Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin vows not to shy from sanctions on big clubs: 'We forget how dirty this industry is'

Aleksander Ceferin, the Uefa president, described how “we forget how dirty this industry is" as he vowed the governing body will not shy away from sanctions against the big clubs.

Uefa has been under siege in recent weeks, facing blistering criticism from Manchester City over a potential Champions League ban likely to be announced this week.

Ceferin has also been tackling a potential overhaul for the Champions League from 2024 and dealt with anger over the choice of Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, as the host of next week’s Europa League final. “Sometimes, we forget how dirty this industry is,” he told the New York Times.

The plan to ban City over alleged financial fair play deceptions has been doubted by La Liga president Javier Tebas, who suggested Uefa had no interest in listening to stakeholders beyond the top clubs.

Ceferin is critical of Tebas in the new interview. “He’s loud,” Ceferin said. “I think it’s part of his tactics to operate like that. But I don’t think it’s very productive.” The president added: “Look, one way of operating is shouting, ‘The rich will take everything!’ And this is typical of the populist shouting in European politics.” Ceferin, 51, said he would not comment on the City case while it is continuing, but he rejected the suggestion that Uefa might shy away from sanctioning any club.

A verdict on City is imminent from the Club Financial Control Body's (CFCB) adjudicatory chamber, which is now reviewing an investigation which concluded last week. Senior Uefa officials - who previously launched sanctions against City in 2014 - are particularly enraged by leaked files from 2015, which claim almost £60million was paid directly into the club by their billionaire Arab owners but declared as sponsorship. The alleged deception was revealed during the Football Leaks scandal.

The club claim they are "entirely confident" any sanctions will be overturned and are certain to appeal any Uefa ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, which would take until at least the autumn to reach any conclusion. A source close to the investigation confirmed all Uefa sanctions would be frozen while any appeal took place.

City claim the allegations against them are “entirely false” and that there is “comprehensive proof” otherwise. The club said in a statement that the suggestion those involved in the investigatory process, overseen by Yves Leterme, the former Belgian prime minister, had already found the club guilty of breaking financial fair play regulations was “extremely concerning”.