Then they were as compliant as PSG by agreeing his release clause when his contract was drawn up.They couldn't not accept the bid. It was his release clause.
Excellent post as always.I think the most annoying aspect of Tebas's pronouncements is the assumption that City and PSG are essentially two faces of the same problem. There are issues surrounding PSG which are of concern to football fans. They seem to have developed no viable or sustainable business model. They seem overly dependent on one deal which channels enormous sums of money into the club with little in return. The Qataris do seem intent on "doping" the club to "buy" success. They do seem intent on doing exactly those things FFP was supposed to prevent.
Yet Tebas would seem to be wasting his time. UEFA is investigating but it has a weak hand. It is hard to say what direct relationship there is between the amount paid and the tangible benefits to a sponsor of a deal. UEFA sold the pass in 2014 when they accepted a very high figure for the PSG deal as "market value". Tebas's argument that PSG have no right to earn more from sponsorship than Manchester United may well be of interest to the competition authorities, especially as owners are not allowed to invest in their club but American companies can "sponsor" clubs for sums at least as large as PSG: doping in one case, good business in another. And then there is Bayern, whose seven biggest sponsors are all shareholders.
The only possible grounds for action against PSG is the loan deal for the Real Madrid target who went to Paris. But loan deals to dodge FFP are not new, UEFA accepted several at the end of the 2014 window involving some clubs who do things the right way.
In all this City can claim the moral high ground. Our owner promised a period of heavy investment in all aspects of the club to transform the club into a major force capable of sustaining itself at the highest level. And that's what we have now. The club gets not one penny from any state coffers. City will act to protect its own integrity and that of its sponsors from Tebas's malicious lies. City is a far better advert than PSG and UEFA is well advised to steer clear of any investigation and certainly any action. City's experience shows the folly of UEFA's attempts to block City's progress by rules of very dubious legality indeed. And in 2014 city secured UEFA's agreement to certain aspects of CFG activity - and now Tebas appears determined to try and use the law to block those activities and Girona's development as a club. He will fail and fail on the grand scale.
They seem to have developed no viable or sustainable business model. They seem overly dependent on one deal which channels enormous sums of money into the club with little in return. The Qataris do seem intent on "doping" the club to "buy" success. They do seem intent on doing exactly those things FFP was supposed to prevent.
And that's what we have now. The club gets not one penny from any state coffers.
I think several italian clubs also use the same trick this summer, so PSG is hardly alone.The only possible grounds for action against PSG is the loan deal for the Real Madrid target who went to Paris. But loan deals to dodge FFP are not new, UEFA accepted several at the end of the 2014 window involving some clubs who do things the right way.
I think the owner's intent in relation to being self-sustaining is suitably demonstrated by the fact the Etihad deal hasn't been renegotiated, some seven years(?) in. I wonder if we'll look for an alternative club sponsor, at the right juncture. An entity not from the Middle East. It would send out a hugely powerful message.I think the most annoying aspect of Tebas's pronouncements is the assumption that City and PSG are essentially two faces of the same problem. There are issues surrounding PSG which are of concern to football fans. They seem to have developed no viable or sustainable business model. They seem overly dependent on one deal which channels enormous sums of money into the club with little in return. The Qataris do seem intent on "doping" the club to "buy" success. They do seem intent on doing exactly those things FFP was supposed to prevent.
Yet Tebas would seem to be wasting his time. UEFA is investigating but it has a weak hand. It is hard to say what direct relationship there is between the amount paid and the tangible benefits to a sponsor of a deal. UEFA sold the pass in 2014 when they accepted a very high figure for the PSG deal as "market value". Tebas's argument that PSG have no right to earn more from sponsorship than Manchester United may well be of interest to the competition authorities, especially as owners are not allowed to invest in their club but American companies can "sponsor" clubs for sums at least as large as PSG: doping in one case, good business in another. And then there is Bayern, whose seven biggest sponsors are all shareholders.
The only possible grounds for action against PSG is the loan deal for the Real Madrid target who went to Paris. But loan deals to dodge FFP are not new, UEFA accepted several at the end of the 2014 window involving some clubs who do things the right way.
In all this City can claim the moral high ground. Our owner promised a period of heavy investment in all aspects of the club to transform the club into a major force capable of sustaining itself at the highest level. And that's what we have now. The club gets not one penny from any state coffers. City will act to protect its own integrity and that of its sponsors from Tebas's malicious lies. City is a far better advert than PSG and UEFA is well advised to steer clear of any investigation and certainly any action. City's experience shows the folly of UEFA's attempts to block City's progress by rules of very dubious legality indeed. And in 2014 city secured UEFA's agreement to certain aspects of CFG activity - and now Tebas appears determined to try and use the law to block those activities and Girona's development as a club. He will fail and fail on the grand scale.
I think he's saying that Spain's own FFP rules don't allow clubs to loan players without paying the parent club a loan fee. City apparently rarely charge loan fees when loaning players out so we were going to loan the 5 players to Girona and not charge a fee which is broadly in accordance with our club policy, although Girona were going to pay the full wages of all the players. Tebas claims that we were doing it to deliberately give Girona an unfair advantage which is clearly not the reason why we weren't going to charge them a loan fee.