Fair points, all.
But I think it depends on region and many other factors as to whether the Der Spiegel (and other outlets) very negative coverage has significantly impacted the club’s image. And, depending on where you currently reside, it could have significantly impacted your experience as a supporter.
I can’t say how widespread this is, of course, but I can say with absolute confidence that our club’s image has been negatively impacted in the USA, as I travel around quite a lot and, regardless of where I go now, when it comes up that I love football—and specifically that I am a lifelong City supporter—the conversation inveritably turns to what I think about my club now being owned by the UAE. Sometimes they don’t say it so politely or reference things that aren’t even true before waiting for my response. Sometimes they do not even ask, but rather launch into a moralistic diatribe that I often must sit through with a smile as they are clients or professional acquaintances.
And, unlike in the past when many people here had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned City (they had barely been exposed to football, much less specific clubs from abroad), the only knowledge some now have of football are the FIFA scandals and our club’s recent press. As recently as September I never had to even talk about City unless I decided I wanted to bring it up; now, after hearing from others I am from Manchester and am City supporter, many people actively raise the topic of our ownership with me. I have even developed a canned, neutral response for when I can’t be combative with my answer (quasi professional situations or conversations with family where I need to avoid conflict).
It gets worse when I interact with supporters of other clubs (either expats or American JCLs). The righteous indignation is often insufferable, and I’ve even had a falling out with two members of my community league team after a debate about our ownership and how it “taints” all of our accomplishments. I had the temerity to point out that their clubs receive funding from the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and China, and one of them is owned by a preported Russian armsdealer, so I wondered if they were aware of their hypocrisy in this outrage.
I’ve had similar interactions with people back home and around the continent (specifically Switzerland and France, recently). My brother-in-law (Swiss) actually has begun to apparently “think less of me” because I “insist on supporting a PR arm of a totalitarian regime”, whilst a previously close mate who supports Young Boys (Bern) has said he is “disappointed” in my “continued association with Manchester City”. A representative of one of my clients based in France actually wrote an email to my direct manager about his feeling uneasy that I am prominently known as a City supporter—I am a data science manager working exclusively with NGOs which tend to be very sensitive about affiliations, even if they are not directly part of my role or organisation. It was an outrageous thing to raise, and my manager agreed, but it is still an example of how things have changed since the recent coverage, as they would have never had such a concern before (much less officially raise it).
All of that is to say I think last year was both good and bad for us, and the reach of the latter depends on region and preexisting affinities. Thus far it has not been catastrophic, as others have said, but that doesn’t mean it could not lead to more substantial impacts to the club’s image if we do not manage things well and shine light on the hypocrisy and misinformation rampant in popular media coverage.
