Soon-to-be-crowned English Premier League champions Manchester City are at the centre of a FIFA investigation which could see them banned from transfer activity, reports the Daily Telegraph.
After interviews with two former players, George Davies and Dominic Oduro, were published in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, FIFA broadened an already on-going inquiry into City’s affairs.
The pair claimed they played for City before they were 18-years-old and as non-English citizens, this is in direct contravention of FIFA’s regulations over child exploitation.
Spanish giants Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid all suffered transfer bans after falling foul of the same regulations in recent years. Chelsea are also in FIFA’s sights for alleged breaches.
All three Spanish clubs unsuccessfully lodged appeals against their penalties and were able to invest heavily in their squads ahead of the bans taking effect.
With their wealthy benefactors, City would almost certainly follow the same course of action if the verdict is handed down before the summer window opens.
The original investigation began because of a complaint filed by Argentinean club Velez Sarsfield. City successfully fought off Manchester United and Barcelona to sign youngster Benjamin Garre.
Having been cleared of wrong-doing by FIFA, the City hierarchy were left stunned when Velez complained to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The binding verdict is expected to delivered soon.
The Premier League fined City £300,000 last season and banned them from signing academy players from English clubs for one year after allegations of ‘tapping up’ were proven.
With this history, City are concerned they may suffer a harsh penalty from the world game’s ruling body if they are found to have transgressed.
