City Football Group must reduce its stake in Girona if the Spanish side is to be handed the chance to compete in the UEFA Champions League for the 2024/25 season.
UEFA shared their stance on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, with the City Football Group, the parent company of Manchester City being informed about what they have to do for Girona to be allowed to feature in the Champions League.
Girona has been 47% owned by City Group since 2017, and following a sublime campaign when they battled alongside Real Madrid for the league title, they are aiming for bigger heights in the coming season.
Anyway, they faltered at some point during the season, losing their grip at the summer of the La Liga table.
Girona’s Champions League Qualification Confirmed
They are guaranteed to finish in the top 4 and as such they have booked their ticket for next season’s Champions League.
Additionally, UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) delivered a letter on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, to football stakeholders sharing the changes to multi-club rules about entry into continental-wide tournaments.
The rules prohibit two teams from featuring in the same European competition if they have the same owner.
CFCB have also expressed that this extends to cases of “decisive influence” being held by a party over several teams, extending beyond just “control” linked to holding majority shares.
City Football Group are not the majority shareholder of Girona, however, UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body indicated in its letter the percentage of ownership that can spell influence.
An excerpt from the letter affirmed that if a party “holds 30 percent or more of the club’s total shares, the shareholders’ or members’ voting or economic rights”, this constitutes “the capacity to exercise a decisive influence in the decision-making of a club”.
Other examples pointed at include; representing about 30 percent of operating income, such as via a sponsorship contract.
Another example cited includes; holding important positions in the club’s structure or having transferred at least three players in the same campaign.
What will the City Football Group Do To Ensure Manchester City And Girona Play In The UEFA Champions League?
For Manchester City and Girona to both compete in the UEFA Champions League next season, City Football Group will have to give up some of its shares in the Spanish side on or before June 3, 2024, the deadline date stipulated by UEFA.
To avoid a situation where shares will be sold frantically, which is economically unfavorable, the CFCB’s letter hands a temporary option to clubs in this situation.
However, the option is time-limited to the coming campaign, and it basically sees the transfer of the shares into a blind trust under the supervision of UEFA.
If the City Football Group does not comply with the stipulations, Girona will be demoted to the UEFA Europa League.
To prevent possible conflicts of interest, UEFA’s integrity rules have had to be adapted due to the sprawling increase of multi-club consortiums.
The City Group as a case study has full ownership of or stakes in 13 teams across the world.
In 2023, these rules on multi-club ownership ignited respective investigations into several European clubs, including; Toulouse and AC Milan, Aston Villa, and Portuguese club Vitoria.
Robert De Zerbi’s Brighton and Hove Albion alongside Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium were also investigated.
UEFA ultimately closed the three cases following “significant changes” made within the clubs involved to control the influence of their investors.
