UEFA to issue Manchester City and Girona with ruling on 2024/25 Champions League fate

Manchester City and Girona are set to imminently receive notice from UEFA concerning their 2024/25 Champions League fate, according to a new report.

Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City squad will be hoping to bring back the European crown to the Etihad Stadium next season, having failed to retain their first-ever success in the competition during the last season.

Despite claiming the UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, and the Premier League title in the same season, retaining Europe’s finest honour was a step too far, as City fell to a penalty shoot-out defeat to eventual winners Real Madrid.

As for Girona, led by highly-rated head coach Míchel, the La Liga club endured one of their finest campaigns in recent memory, as they secured themselves their first ever season in the UEFA Champions League with a third-placed finish.

However, given their links to Manchester City through their City Football Group ownership, uncertainty loomed over whether the club would be able to compete in the competition due to UEFA’s ruling on multi-club ownerships and partaking in the same tournaments.

Manchester City and Girona are nevertheless set to receive good news in the coming days, with The Times reporting that both clubs are to be given the go-ahead by UEFA to compete in the Champions League next season.

That will be subject to certain conditions, states the report, but the clubs are also to be told that the 2024/25 season will be viewed as a ‘transitional’ one, and there will ‘not be as much leeway’ given in future seasons.

UEFA’s Club Financial Control Board (CFCB) is expected to say Girona should be operated via a “blind trust” by a panel approved by UEFA, while the CFCB have also scrutinised the City Football Group links due to the clubs’ transfer dealings this season.

A UEFA document on multi-club ownership seen by The Times says a blind trust would be a “temporary alternative… granted on an exceptional basis for the 2024-25 Uefa competitions”, while the same document also makes clear that UEFA’s multi-club ownership rule may be changed for future seasons.

This is a developing story. More to follow.