UEFA has offered Abu Dhabi investors in Manchester City and Girona divestment options to allow both to compete in the Champions League next season by complying with integrity rules for teams that share owners.
Girona have made an impressive run to secure a top-four finish in Spanish LaLiga, with three key players loaned or sold through Manchester City's influence, including Brazilian star Sávio.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (US)
Girona, also owned by the brother of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, will enter elite European competition for the first time. City won the 2023 Champions League title and will finish in the top two of the English Premier League.
But teams have severely tested UEFA's multi-club ownership rules that protect against collusion in games.
If they do not comply with UEFA rules with a proposal by June 3, one of the two teams, probably Girona, would have to be demoted to the second division Europa League. The team that finishes best in its national league has priority.
According to a UEFA document seen Tuesday by The Associated Press, there are two options open for the City Football Group, the operation created in Abu Dhabi with stakes in 13 clubs around the world, including 100% of Man City and the 47 % of Girona.
CFG could solve the problem by selling shares to an independent third party that reduces an equity stake to less than 30%, or by transferring all of a club's shares to a blind trust overseen by a UEFA-appointed panel.
The administrator could be chosen by the CFG in a UEFA-approved model that was applied this season in a compliance agreement for AC Milan, Toulouse and their American investor Red Bird Capital.
The issue of multi-club ownership for UEFA and CFG has arisen since Girona's rapid start to the league in September.
UEFA declined to comment all season pending Girona's confirmed Champions League qualification this month. UEFA also did not comment on a possible pending issue with Jim Ratcliffe's ownership stakes and his influence on Manchester United and Nice: both could qualify for the next Europa League.
On Tuesday, UEFA's club finance monitoring panel wrote to football stakeholders to clarify updates to its multi-club rules for entry into European club competitions that were first drafted in the 1998-99 season.
Man City and Girona came under scrutiny because CFG has “decisive influence” over both because the Abu Dhabi operation owns at least 30% of the shares in both, and because of the clubs' transfer deals this season.
Girona appeared to meet the UEFA panel's criteria for clubs that “transferred, permanently or temporarily, three or more players to the other club, directly or indirectly through related parties, during the season.”
Girona has two players in its squad who belong to other CFG clubs: right-back Yan Couto, on loan from Manchester City, and winger Sávio, on loan from French side Troyes.
Sávio is the revelation of the season in Spain. His dribbling and speed on the left wing have caused chaos in rival defenses.
The 20-year-old has scored 10 goals and is one of the best assists in the league with nine assists on goal. Sávio's permanent move to Man City at the end of the season, which was reported in February, should not be affected by any UEFA decision.
Couto has stood out for joining the attack from his right-back position, distributing eight assists.
After completing a loan spell at Girona, Venezuelan midfielder Yangel Herrera was sold by City to their sister club last July.
Man City was bought in 2008 by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family.
The CFG was formed five years later, with Man City, already Premier League champions for the first time, acting as the flagship club of a global portfolio that soon included teams on multiple continents.
First came New York City FC in 2013, then Melbourne City of the Australian A-League, Girona from Spain, Yokohama F. Marinos from Japan, Sichuan Jiuniu FC from China, Club Atlético Torque from Uruguay and Mumbai City of India joined the group, which also had a “collaboration agreement” with the Venezuelan team Atlético Venezuela.
CFG bought Girona in 2017, weeks after being promoted to Spain's top flight for the first time. Pere Guardiola bought a stake that is now 16%.
In recent years, CFG has acquired stakes in European clubs Lommel in Belgium, Palermo in Italy and Troyes.
The CFG group of clubs is one of the largest multi-club groups in a growing global trend that UEFA itself has warned poses risks to the football industry.
Critics say it can allow collusion in games and the transfer market and help top-tier clubs spread and disguise their costs to help comply with financial monitoring rules.
