Spanish ban for Soriano

MANCHESTER City’s chief executive Ferran Soriano has been fined over his role in the collapse of Spanish airline Spanair.

He has also been banned from “managing other people’s wealth” for two years in Spain.

Soriano was one of 11 former Spanair executives fined £8.5m by a Spanish court which said the board delayed declaring the firm bankrupt for five months, leading to further losses.

Soriano, the vice-president of Barcelona from 2003-08, was brought in to try and save the airline in 2009 but the business folded in 2012 after a deal with Qatar Airlines fell through.

Manchester City said they were aware of the case before they hired Soriano in August 2012 but had no further comment.

It is not known if there will be any implications under the Football Association’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test, the official name of football’s “fit and proper person” rule.

Soriano runs City’s executive management team but does not sit on the board.

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