Major changes confirmed at La Liga side with big impact on Man City Champions League's place

La Liga side Girona have confirmed major changes at boardroom level which are set to have a huge impact on Manchester City’s Champions League aspirations.

The Spanish club are partly owned by City Football Group (CFG) and are set to compete in the Champions League for the first time this season after a remarkable 2023/24 campaign that saw the team finish third. But Uefa’s rules on multi-club ownership are designed to prevent sides owned by the same group from competing in the same competition.

Uefa’s laws claim clubs have until 3 July 2024 to prove that teams do not ‘hold or deal in the securities or shares of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition’. They also state no two clubs may have the same ‘management or administration’, or be able to exert ‘control or influence’ over another side competing in Uefa tournaments.

The owners of Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion had to reduce their shares in sister clubs ahead of 2023/24 to comply with Uefa regulations and, according to the Times, CFG have decreased their ownership in Girona to 30 percent. The remaining shares have been put into a ‘blind trust’ which has to be operated independently.

It follows news - confirmed by Girona on Monday - that John MacBeath, Simon Cliff and Ingo Bank have stepped down as board members of the Spanish side, to be replaced by Matthew Shayle, Edward Hall and Paul Hunston.

MacBeath is a member of City’s board, Cliff operates as general counsel to CFG, while Bank is a senior financial executive at CFG.

The move, therefore, means there is now no concern about both clubs competing in the Champions League this season, despite the links which remain between both clubs. Pep Guardiola’s agent and brother, Pere, is chairman of Girona, a club that has been a regular destination for City loanees in recent years and sponsored by Etihad Airways, like City.