Girona FC’s success has been one of the biggest talking points on the lips of fans of Spanish football. This small-town club has stormed its way to the summit of Spain’s top tier, muscling in on the country’s elite, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
As a matter of fact, Girona FC’s stunning 2023/24 form so far has led to them being in pole position to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League directly. After 19 games, Girona found themselves ten points clear of fourth and fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid.
Why is there uncertainty over Girona’s Champions League eligibility?
UEFA’s multi-ownership rules are the main reason why people cast doubt over Girona FC’s eligibility to play in the Champions League. Girona is one of the latest clubs to have received investment from the City Football Group.
UEFA believes it is not good for the sporting integrity of its competitions for one organisation or entity to have more than one interest. That’s due to the potential for match-fixing and other forms of corruption and collusion between clubs under the same ownership group.
At the end of the 2022/23 season, Girona FC sought a UEFA licence to compete in UEFA club competitions. That’s because the club came within a whisker of qualifying for the UEFA Europa Conference League. They were approved by the governing body to compete in the UEFA Europa Conference League in future seasons. This approval would also extend to UEFA’s Europa League and Champions League too. That’s because of a crucial loophole in the multi-ownership rules.
Who owns Girona FC?
The City Football Group (CFG) only part-owns Girona FC. If it was a majority shareholder or outright owner, it would be a very different story. However, CFG initially acquired a 44.7% stake in the club. Although this has since risen to 47% between 2017 and now, it’s still low enough to circumvent UEFA’s ongoing multi-ownership rules.
Perhaps the biggest issue of multi-ownership UEFA has encountered thus far was that between Red Bull Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg. UEFA investigated the clubs’ close relationship both from a commercial and sporting standpoint. It was deemed that no rules were broken on either side, with each club having its own operational structures, sufficiently differentiating one club from the next.
Who are the other clubs owned by the City Football Group?
The City Football Group’s first acquisition came in 2008 when it bought Manchester City outright. Five years later, its 80% investment into the Major League Soccer franchise, New York City, was completed. Below, we list the teams more recently invested in by the CFG:
- Melbourne City FC (2014) – 100% stake
- Yokohama F. Marinos FC (2014) – 20% stake
- Montevideo City Torque (2017) – 100% stake
- Girona (2017) – 44.7% stake
- Mumbai City FC (2019) – 65% stake
- Lommel SK (2020) – 100% stake
- ES Troyes AC (2020) – 100% stake
- Club Bolivar (2021) – ‘Partner Club’
- Vannes OC (2021) – ‘Partner Club’
- Palermo FC (2022) – 80% stake
- Bahia (2023) – 90% stake
The remarkable story of Girona’s 2023/24 La Liga season so far
Few could have predicted that Girona’s 2023/24 La Liga campaign would go how it has thus far. After missing out on the Europa Conference League place by just four points last term, Girona were happy enough with their tenth-place finish, banishing any fears of being sucked into the relegation dogfight.
Fast forward to the present day, and Girona have tasted defeat just once in 19 La Liga games. Last season, they lost more games than they won.
It’s fair to say that Girona’s recruitment has been intelligent and savvy in the main. Their net spend for this season stands at a meagre €4.35 million. They have utilised the loan market to good effect also. Brazilian forward Savio has been an absolute sensation since joining from fellow CFG club Troyes. Savio didn’t get much game time with Dutch side PSV during a loan spell in 2022/23, but it’s clear that Girona had a plan for him this term.
Powerful Ukrainian frontman Artem Dovbyk has also been a revelation this season. He’s notched 11 goals in 17 La Liga appearances so far, adjusting to the move from Dnipro-1 with consummate ease.
Girona also boast some serious experience in their ranks too. Uruguayan front man, Cristhian Stuani, has been a consistent threat in this Girona side for the best part of seven seasons. Meanwhile the likes of Daley Blind offer bags of big-game experience to help them through when it matters.
The second half of the season promises to be a fascinating period for Girona, with title aspirations still on the line at the time of writing, however unlikely this may seem.
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