Manchester City avoid UEFA punishment after ‘alternative arrangement’ agreed over training rules | OneFootball

UEFA and Manchester City have come to an agreement over training session media commitments in light of Pep Guardiola’s decision to cancel Tuesday’s session.

The development follows Guardiola’s rare call to grant his squad a full rest day ahead of their Champions League meeting with Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night, breaking from his typical European preparation routine.

Pep Guardiola’s approach was designed to preserve freshness within his first-team squad amid a dense autumn schedule, and the club’s swift administrative work now ensures the focus remains fully on the pitch.

It is highly uncommon for the City manager to deviate from match-eve training, particularly in Europe, yet with confidence flowing from recent results and the squad appearing physically in good shape, the Catalan coach was happy to move away from tradition.

That move triggered regulatory considerations behind the scenes, with UEFA rules mandating media access to pre-match preparations for rights-holders. City were therefore required to find a compliant workaround, avoiding both a breach and risk of disciplinary action.

As highlighted by the Manchester Evening News, UEFA regulations state each club ‘must make their training session on the day before the match open to the media for at least 15 minutes’ as part of their service for broadcasting rights-holders.

Article 79 reads, “Both clubs must make their training session on the day before the match open to the media for at least 15 minutes in accordance with the schedule agreed in advance with UEFA.

“The two training sessions must be arranged by the two clubs and UEFA together, so that the media can attend both. In principle, the visiting club holds its official training session in the stadium where the match will take place on the day before the match, unless otherwise agreed in advance with UEFA…

“If a club does not hold a full training session on the day before the match, alternative arrangements must be made in agreement with UEFA to provide the media with access to a minimum of 15 minutes of the team’s preparation (e.g. stadium walk-around).”

Simon Bajkowski reports that as part of the conditions for not holding training on Tuesday, Manchester City have instead sent 15 minutes of footage from Monday’s session to UEFA that can be used by broadcasters.

This is said to have been accepted as an ‘alternative arrangement’ to allow Manchester City players the day off, meaning Etihad Stadium officials are to escape any UEFA sanctions.

Pep Guardiola has since clarified that he and his Manchester City players will undertake a training session on the morning of their clash against Borussia Dortmund, insisting that he preferred to allow players to stay at home on Tuesday with a view towards increased rest.

“We will train tomorrow morning,” Guardiola told reporters during his pre-match press conference ahead of the matchday four fixture at the Etihad Stadium.

“I’ve done it a few times,” he continued. “Not a lot, but a few times. Sometimes I prefer it; don’t see eachother. It was such a demanding game against Bournemouth and I prefer to stay at home and tomorrow morning we train.”