sport news City face CL ban as new leaks reveal how they 'got around UEFA rules'

The prospect of Manchester City facing a ban from the Champions League moved a step closer on Saturday night as a new tranche of leaked emails from German magazine Der Spiegel provided more details of how they allegedly circumnavigated UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules.

In addition, City look as though they are facing another FA inquiry, after it was alleged that they misled the FA over the third-party ownership of a player, Bruno Zuculini. 

But the most serious outcome for City would be a Champions League ban, which would affect their ability to recruit players and to balance their books without additional funding from their owner, Sheik Mansour, which is not allowed by UEFA rules.

City are already being investigated by UEFA after leaked emails last November appeared to show how they used direct funding from Abu Dhabi United Group, the investment fund owned by Sheik Mansour to supplement sponsorship deals.

UEFA's rules place a strict limit on the cash an owner can inject directly into a club to prevent over-inflation in the football market.

Yves Leterme, the chairman and chief investigator of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body, said in January that City face 'the heaviest punishment' if the allegations are proven, which would mean exclusion from the Champions League.

Now the further raft of emails provides further evidence of how City have made it appear as though their record income in recent years came through increased sponsorship deals rather than simply funding from Sheik Mansour.

In one email dated April 2010 City director Simon Pearce is writing to an executive of City's sponsors, Aabar, an Abu Dhabi investment firm. Pearce wrote: 'As we discussed the annual direct obligation for Aabar is £3 million. The remaining £12m required will come from His Highness.'

An internal City document seems to indicate that up until 2012 the 'supplement to Abu Dhabi

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