Girona’s qualification for next season’s Champions League, a historic first in the club’s 94-year existence, faces a hurdle as their partner club, Manchester City, has also secured a spot in the competition, sources disclosed to ESPN.
Girona secured their Champions League berth with a 4-2 victory over Barcelona, securing second place in LaLiga and guaranteeing a top-four finish this season.
Being part of the City Football Group (CFG), with CFG owning 47% of Girona and another 35% owned by Marcelo Claure, president of Club Bolivar, presents a potential conflict with UEFA’s multi-club ownership rule outlined in Article 5 of the club competitions regulations.
Pere Guardiola, brother of City manager Pep Guardiola, serves as the chairman of Girona.
According to UEFA regulations, if two clubs from the same ownership group qualify for the same competition, the spot goes to the team finishing higher in their domestic league.
If they finish equally, the team with the higher club coefficient (in this case, City) earns qualification.
As City is poised to secure the Premier League runner-up spot with just two points needed, they will claim the CFG’s Champions League spot ahead of Girona.
While it’s improbable for Girona to be relegated to the Europa League to avoid clashing with City, the Spanish club must assert its independence from Manchester City at a UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) hearing this summer to receive clearance for Champions League participation.
Similar situations have arisen before, with RB Leipzig and FC Salzburg, both under the Red Bull Group, being cleared to participate in the Champions League together. UEFA has previously accepted clubs with shared ownership into its competitions, as seen with Aston Villa and Vitoria, Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise, and AC Milan and Toulouse.
In a related development, Manchester United and Nice, both owned or partially controlled by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS Group, will also undergo a CFCB hearing if they qualify for European competition. While Nice holds a Europa League spot in Ligue 1, United could still qualify for Europe through the league or by winning the FA Cup Final against Manchester City on May 25th.