Old UEFA evidence on £30m Etisalat payments haunts City appeal

📰 Evidence Manchester City submitted to UEFA years ago appears to clash with the argument at the heart of their Premier League appeal. 📌 Key points 🗞️ The Times reported on City's old UEFA evidence on 6 October. 💷 The issue is two £15m payments made in 2012 and 2013. 📝 City told UEFA the money was paid on ADUG's instructions. ⚖️ The appeal now rests on the money coming from government sources. 🤐 City declined to comment to The Times. 📝 What happened 💷 The money in question is £30m paid in two £15m instalments in 2012 and 2013 under telecoms firm Etisalat's sponsorship deal. According to The Times, as cited by the Mirror, the payments came from Jaber Mohamed, who held a senior role at Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Court at the time. 📝 During UEFA's investigation before 2020, City said the payments were caused to be made by ADUG (Abu Dhabi United Group), the owners' vehicle. The report says the link between Mohamed and the Crown Prince Court was not set out to UEFA. ⚖️ That is the problem for the appeal. City argue that some sponsors were backed by Abu Dhabi government sources such as the Crown Prince Court, not by ADUG, which may sit uneasily with what they told UEFA. 🏛️ UEFA's adjudicatory body ruled the £30m was disguised owner funding, but in 2020 the Court of Arbitration for Sport found that allegation time-barred and did not rule on it. Premier League proceedings have no such time limit, so the Appeal Board can examine it on its merits. 📊 By the numbers • Payments in question: £30m (2 × £15m) • Paid in: 2012 and 2013 • City found guilty: 114 of 115 charges • Appeal lodged: 1 October, to be completed within 12 weeks 🔭 Why it matters After Etihad's 2015 filing to US authorities, this is the second old record to surface that seems to cut against City's appeal. City insist the verdict contains "clear material errors, of law, principle and fact", but how much weight the UEFA evidence carries is for the Appeal Board to decide. Under Premier League rules the appeal must finish within 12 weeks, taking it to the week before Christmas. In the meantime City visit Liverpool on 11 October.