Manchester City should not celebrate their ban from European competition being lifted, according to Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke.
The Premier League club had been suspended from UEFA competitions from two years earlier this season for breaking Financial Fair Play regulations, which looked set to see them banned from playing in the Champions League and could have led to mass departures of their best players.
City appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and on Monday their ban was lifted in what was a huge victory for the club and a damaging blow for European football's governing body. Instead, the English club were ordered to pay a fine of €10 million (£9m/$11m) for failing to assist UEFA in its investigations - itself a huge reduction from the initial financial penalty.
The decision has been regarded as vindication by City, with manager Pep Guardiola saying the ruling proves the club have acted above board.
Watzke however feels that City should not be crowing about the decision, pointing out that CAS came to their conclusion because of a lack of evidence, following the Premier League side's refusal to cooperate with the UEFA investigation.
He told Kicker: "Overall, it was not a good day for football. It is also a setback for UEFA.
"I would recommend Manchester City to stop celebrating. If you read the reasoning for the judgment, you can see that just the evidence was not valid enough. In fact, celebration should be forbidden."
Watzke is not the only major European football figure infuriated by the escape, with La Liga president and long-standing Man City critic Javier Tebas aiming further barbs at Guardiola.
Tebas told ESPN: "Manchester City will be in the Champions League next season not because they have acted correctly, but rather because CAS is wrong. In fact, CAS has fined them €10m, that is not just for the sake of it. From what I've read I gather it is because they didn't cooperate with UEFA. Why is that?
"Have City hidden documentation? I would like to read the final ruling now, if I can. Just as we still have not been able to read PSG's final ruling from CAS, when a lot of time has passed and it is still not available.
"The day I sit down and read it I will tell Guardiola that of which I am convinced: Manchester City have not acted right."
Who will be named the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League Best Player of the Season?