Manchester City are closer than ever from tasting the ultimate glory. Pep Guardiola‘s men take on Inter in the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League final today at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, hoping to lift the trophy for the first time.
The Citizens have become a regular in this competition in the last decade, but they’ve struggled to go the distance. The closest they’ve come was in 2021, losing to Chelsea in the grand final.
While this is the tournament every fan wants to win, the Sky Blues fanbase has also shown animosity against the governing body by booing the Champions League anthem on many occasions.
Why Man City supporters boo the Champions League anthem
All Manchester City supporters want to see their team win the Champions League, but their opinion about UEFA is not the best. As Goal recalls, the reason behind their booing of the anthem is related to a series of episodes that occured in the last few years.
- 2011-12: Only a month after Porto were fined €20,000 for racially abusing Mario Balotelli, City received a €30,000 penalty for showing up to the field 30 seconds late in the second half of an away game against Sporting CP.
- 2013-14: CSKA received a stadium ban for racial abuse from their fans on short notice, preventing City fans who had already purchased flights and tickets from attending the match. Away fans who traveled anyway were attacked in Russia, with many home supporters ultimately being allowed into the stadium. UEFA didn’t punish the Russian club and the stadium ban was actually reduced after appealing.
- 2014: Manchester City were fined £49m for Financial Fair Play breaches, as well as having a reduced squad for Champions League fixtures and limits to their transfer activity.
- 2016-17: UEFA lifted Dynamo Kyiv’s stadium closure earlier than expected on short notice, not giving City fans enough time to book flights, hotel rooms and tickets for the round of 16 match.
Eventually, UEFA’s investigation on Manchester City’s activity related to possible breaches of Financial Fair Play rules only made their relationship even worse.
