Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville feels that UEFA got what was coming to them on Monday at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Manchester City had a two-season ban from European competition quashed, and a €30million fine reduced to €10million.
A panel of three lawyers at CAS found that most of the alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) by City were either not established or time-barred.
City's fine was maintained, but reduced, as CAS said that City failed to cooperate with the investigations by UEFA's club financial control body that oversees FFP compliance.
City have found an unlikely ally in Neville, "UEFA can't get a simple disciplinary hearing right - we've known that for years and years - and they're certainly not going to be able to get something right that's complex."
The decision to overturn City's ban follows similar decisions in favour of Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Galatasaray.
Speaking ahead of Manchester United's Premier League clash with Southampton, Neville said, "They're an organisation that is ultimately transitioning away from what it has been in the past and this is in some ways a hangover from something that started a few years ago.
"But it's no surprise that in a serious court that Man City have won this case because UEFA are an organisation that simply cannot organise their own disciplinary measures.
"The idea that they could take on a Manchester City legal machine that were going to throw everything at this and rightly so, not just because they've got the money but because they're defending their reputation, they were always going to come unstuck.
"I know that's not what was being debated in the courtroom and legalities of it, but I don't believe in FFP. I think FFP needed this slap around the face.
"I said a few months ago, FFP would have prevented Jack Walker doing what he did 30 years ago at Blackburn.
"I know people have issues around potential owners, state ownership and other models but the reality is we're not talking about that here, we're talking about financial fair play, the finances and people who can invest into football clubs."
Neville is a part-owner of English League Two side Salford City.
They've been criticised for spending big relative to their league status.
He told Sky Sports, "We've seen it at lower league levels and at the top of the game, owners have to have the money they commit to - that's it, as far as I'm concerned.
"So you need a test that has that as its fundamental, not one that restricts people. If you've got a trillion quid and you spend a couple of billion, that's fine. If you spend 100 grand and you've only got 50, that's not fine.
"It's not about the amount of money someone puts into a football club, it's about whether than can afford it and it's a test that needs creating based on that foundation."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
