LONDON • Uefa believes Manchester City still have questions to answer over their Financial Fair Play (FFP) dealings, and it is possible they could be barred from the Champions League in the future.

City are facing charges of having misled Uefa, after the publication of leaked e-mails and documents by the German magazine Der Spiegel in November 2018.

They appeared to show owner Sheikh Mansour, who is part of Abu Dhabi's royal family, had funded the club's sponsorship by Etihad.

City had presented the sponsorship as a commercially credible deal, arguing that the airline, and its other Abu Dhabi-based sponsors, was not technically "related" to their owner.

According to the Irish Times, by 2013, after City had won the Premier League for the first time, the Etihad deal - the 10-year agreement until 2021 - had gone up to £67.5 million (S$119 million) a year.

City are also understood to receive £15 million a year from investment firm Aabar, £16.5 million from telecommunications giant Etisalat, and £19.75 million from the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority.

The Uefa's club financial control body's "investigatory chamber", which brought the charge last May, is understood to have recommended a year's ban from the Champions League at least if the charges are proved.

City have vehemently denied the allegations, saying they had been subjected to a "hostile" process which ignored "a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence".

Separately, the FA Cup holders beat Championship side Fulham 4-0 at home yesterday to move into the fifth round, courtesy of goals from Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus' brace.

THE GUARDIAN