Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and UEFA hold peace talks

By Bryan Swanson, Chief Reporter

Thursday 16 July 2020 10:10, UK

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has held talks with Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak after the club's two-year ban in Europe was overturned.

Sky Sports News has confirmed reports that a private call took place on Monday after the Court of Arbitration for Sport lifted their ban in the Champions League next season.

Both parties expressed a desire for a constructive relationship, as reported by the Daily Mail.

Ceferin called Manchester City an 'asset' during an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News in March.

"As with other clubs, they are our asset, I respect them," he said, in his first UK television interview after City were initially hit with the ban.

"I don't want to say that, 'now we don't like Manchester City'. We like them, they are our club."

UEFA had accused City of breaking their Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules by overstating sponsorship revenue in their accounts and in the break-even information submitted between 2012 and 2016, as well as failing to co-operate with its investigation.

However, CAS removed the suspension UEFA had handed to City on Monday - and reduced their initial €30m fine to €10m (£8.96m) - after finding "most of the alleged breaches reported were either not established or time-barred".

After the ruling from CAS, City boss Pep Guardiola said: "We should be apologised [to].

"If we did something wrong, we will accept the decision. But we have the right to defend ourselves when we believe what we have done is correct. Three independent judges said this."