In the report, the German publication raises doubts about the trial that reversed the punishment imposed by UEFA on the English club. In one of those emails, a City director, Simon Pearce, at the same time executive of an Abu Dhabi government official, said he was “shipping” £ 91 million of the 99 that Etihad, the airline that sponsors the club, owed. City for sponsorship, with Etihad paying just 8 million.

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The club declined to comment on the new emails, maintaining what the club has said since the first “leaks” of 2018: that access to its email was made in a “criminal” way. The source for “Der Spiegel” is Rui Pinto, who denies having obtained emails in a criminal manner.

The German publication released the new information two days after the Arbitration Court for Sport [TAS] published the full report detailing the trial and the reasons for not suspending Manchester City from European competition, opting for a 10 million fine. euros. The amount to be paid by the Citizens will largely have to do with the lack of cooperation and the obstruction of investigation by the British.

One of the new emails was sent by Pearce in December 2013 to Peter Baumgartner, then commercial director at Etihad, with the subject “payments”. In the email Pearce said Etihad owed City 31.5 million pounds for the 2012/13 season and 67.5 million for the following season, a total of 99 million.

In another email, Pearce clearly demonstrates that he is paying the club sponsor, instead of the other way around. Manchester City, by not commenting on the new data, leaves it unclear as to why its employee would be paying £ 91 million to Etihad's commercial director.

The Manchester club issued a statement, in which it states: “The issues and problems raised by“ Der Spiegel ”appear to be a cynical attempt to publicly undermine a case that has been completely adjudicated, after detailed procedures and a rigorous process, by TAS. Manchester City's policy remains to not comment on out-of-context material that has been obtained criminally from City Football Group and Manchester City employees. ”