UEFA FFP investigation - CAS decision to be announced Monday, 13th July 9.30am BST

[80s Shorts]

what I don't get is why UEFA are after us, there is a clear and obvious agenda but I don't get why. if they ban us from the CL what do they gain? firstly the winners are the champions of Europe as the best team in Europe hasn't entered, any title would be meaningless. financially it's a minor set back at best, of all clubs we can swallow the loss the easiest. they certainly aren't hurting the fans, we don't give a fuck. so now lets flip it, what can they lose by pursuing us? they would certainly lose their favourite commodity, money. their reputation will be shot, whats left of it anyway. then there is our own "investigations. don't they think that we will respond in kind, once banned we would search every aspect of their operation, we WILL find something, perhaps a club being fined like 10k for the offence we have been banned for. we'd slice them wide open.

careful UEFA, we are no longer ickkle City.

 

[paulchapo]

It's simple. Ban the BBC.

Ferguson did it for ten years and they have been making it up to them ever since he left.

Not difficult.

Sadly, the damage is done. They want to deligitimise our ongoing achievements as a football club and have done so in such a massive week.

The ill-informed masses lap up spoon-fed shit every day, so coupled with confirmation bias, there is only one way to be.

Be aggressive. The time has gone for winning hearts and minds. The brand is being impacted and legal action needs to be taken across the board.

There should be an entire department, solely listening in, watching and reading what is being said about us on a daily basis to assess legal recourse.

As for the Community Shield game, I would urge people not to take kids to a game against Liverpool at Wembley, that will be an absolutely toxic environment.

Many of us have been saying to take this approach for years. I have no idea why we have been so feeble in dealing with these rats, maybe it's a different cultural approach from our owners?

Surely they must have realised by now unless we start to fight back and hurt them they will never let up??

 

[John Wayne]

This is a very significant occurrence in the whole matter.

The NYT are standing by their journalist and the claim that he has a source close to the investigation. There has been no denial from UEFA that information may have been leaked. The cornerstone of any disciplinary investigation is the absolute mutually-held promise of confidentiality between parties. What has happened, and what City have seized upon with noticeable emphasis, is that there has been a breakdown in trust over UEFA's complete inability to maintain their promise of non-disclosure during investigative proceedings. I believe that the NYT is telling the truth. I believe that someone from within the CFCB IC has leaked information to the press. The reasons for this are unknown but given the timing, I think we all have our suspicions. By failing to uphold the ethical tenet of confidentiality, the whole UEFA investigation has been prejudiced. The likelihood is that any subsequent action would be successfully challenged in court, because UEFA cannot demonstrate that they have been able to satisfy the fundamental premise of impartiality. Make no mistake, City's statement was very carefully worded and allows the club to steal the initiative. Instead of questions being asked about us, the club can rightfully be asking very pointed questions of UEFA and the legitimacy of the CFCB IC.

 

[kaz7]

As sure as night follows day,we win and the ****s try and spoil it,well fuck you,the record books will show what have achieved even if you won't acknowlege (sp) i totally trust the club and all this mud slinging has just made the team closer and more determined to win

 

[unlikelyfan19]

Ok I’ll bite, where is the extra point coming from? Winner of the community shield gets a league bonus point from 2020/21?

That's the joke.

 

[BluessinceHydeRoad]

None of the reports give any idea as to where their "beliefs" (it is believed that ...) or "understandings" (it is understood that ...) come from. Are they making it all up, repeating a story spread by NYT or is someone from UEFA shooting their mouth off. If it's the latter then due process has gone out of the window and someone at CFCBIC is clearly, as the club statement says, trying to damage the reputation of the club. The BBC report goes further and suggests that CFCBIC first decide on a punishment then carry out an investigation and reach a verdict!

 

[BusterPhillips]

This is a very significant occurrence in the whole matter.

The NYT are standing by their journalist and the claim that he has a source close to the investigation. There has been no denial from UEFA that information may have been leaked. The cornerstone of any disciplinary investigation is the absolute mutually-held promise of confidentiality between parties. What has happened, and what City have seized upon with noticeable emphasis, is that there has been a breakdown in trust over UEFA's complete inability to maintain their promise of non-disclosure during investigative proceedings. I believe that the NYT is telling the truth. I believe that someone from within the CFCB IC has leaked information to the press. The reasons for this are unknown but given the timing, I think we all have our suspicions. By failing to uphold the ethical tenet of confidentiality, the whole UEFA investigation has been prejudiced. The likelihood is that any subsequent action would be successfully challenged in court, because UEFA cannot demonstrate that they have been able to satisfy the fundamental premise of impartiality. Make no mistake, City's statement was very carefully worded and allows the club to steal the initiative. Instead of questions being asked about us, the club can rightfully be asking very pointed questions of UEFA and the legitimacy of the CFCB IC.

After the reading the statement I came to the same conclusion. Feels like the club are ready to explore counter legal methods to put a lid on the slur campaign against us.

 

[Rochdale Blue]

Ok I’ll bite, where is the extra point coming from? Winner of the community shield gets a league bonus point from 2020/21?

Liverpool would demand a playoff for finishing champions elect again in second place and we draw but win the extra game on pens.

 

[Pingu the Penguin]

It seems to me that the club’s suspicion about this being all about targeted attempts to damage our reputation is true.

The more difficult issue for us as fans might be though “what if we go to court and lose”.

What is your view as a fan? I think mine is that if we bent the rules then we did so because we fought fire with fire. Feel a bit blinkered admitting that tho

 

[Brendan110_0]

Ok I’ll bite, where is the extra point coming from? Winner of the community shield gets a league bonus point from 2020/21?

No, we bought a point obviously.

 

[citizenyank76]

I am so sick of being poked and prodded. I know some very competent high profile lawyers who would have a field day with this shit. You can only use the media and public dialog for so long. I hope we know every angle in the court room to geld these fuckers by the balls!

 

[Postman Pep]

Yep, he's an Arsenal loving **** who is going to find his mobile number posted on here before much longer.

Allegedly, of course.

He's a simpleton. Conveniently, for a supposed expert on the subject matter, he elected not to mention that the hacked documents relate to the period already sanctioned for.

He's in big trouble, as he accused us of failing twice and still manipulating the books.

He's finished.

I hope you're right but considering talkshite tweeted the whiny ****z vitriol shortly afterwards they didn't seem to have a problem with it.

 

[@BluePhil8]

I tried to get a hold of the first released thing, since he and other journalists are pretending it’s not edited, I found this from yesterday but it’s trying to get me to subscribe to New York Times any differences?

https://web.archive.org/web/2019051...ts/manchester-city-champions-league-uefa.html

According to the people with knowledge of the investigation, City’s punishment most likely will be linked to an accusation that it provided misleading statements in resolving an earlier case, as well as false statements to licensing authorities in England, and not over the true value of the sponsorship agreements. That made the case a curious fit for the financial control officials, who were assigned the case instead of UEFA’s main disciplinary body.

This the bit??

 

[BluessinceHydeRoad]

If NYT didn't edit out the reference to the source of the story shouldn't they tell us exactly where they got the information from - if we're to have full confidence in the investigatory process UEFA will base their decisions on?

 

[Newquayblue]

Eh up, I think the club statement has been edited, it now reads " “people familiar with the case” is therefore extremely concerning. " -- Is it too early for bed?

 

[Withnail]

Yep, he's an Arsenal loving **** who is going to find his mobile number posted on here before much longer.

Allegedly, of course.

He's a simpleton. Conveniently, for a supposed expert on the subject matter, he elected not to mention that the hacked documents relate to the period already sanctioned for.

He's in big trouble, as he accused us of failing twice and still manipulating the books.

He's finished.

Time to adopt a similar approach with a few more of these obnoxious bile spewing journalists

 

[kaz7]

It seems to me that the club’s suspicion about this being all about targeted attempts to damage our reputation is true.

The more difficult issue for us as fans might be though “what if we go to court and lose”.

What is your view as a fan? I think mine is that if we bent the rules then we did so because we fought fire with fire. Feel a bit blinkered admitting that tho

Every single business of any type bend the rules,it seems we are not allowed to do it,so long as we haven't done anything really terrible i don't think we as fans should be concerned,our job is to support the team on the pitch and leave the rest to the club to deal with

 

[Parisian]

I'm a sick bastard but I am kind of interested to see what 1 season focusing fully on domestic football would look like for us. Guessing we end up with 115 points.

Would not do any good to City.

Reputation would be damaged. Economic damage from non paticipation in UCL and some sponsors clauses (bonuses) prolly.
Players like CL and you have a big squad. Less games played, less game time for some players.

 

[Pingu the Penguin]

Every single business of any type bend the rules,it seems we are not allowed to do it,so long as we haven't done anything really terrible i don't think we as fans should be concerned,our job is to support the team on the pitch and leave the rest to the club to deal with

Good point well made!

 

[City Man]

According to today's Guardian the club have now said they have provided "comprehensive proof" of their innocence of the allegations. There also seems to be some pushback from the club now with the tone changing significantly. The club have said:

According to the Guardian, the club have upped the ante a bit with their response to the NYT article -

"Responding to a report in the New York Times on Monday that the IC is set to recommend City being banned from the Champions League, the club issued a strongly worded statement saying they have provided proof that the allegations are false.

This would be presumed to include further internal financial evidence and an explanation of the emails. The statement protested that the IC process itself has been the subject of leaks. “Manchester City FC is fully cooperating in good faith with the CFCB IC’s ongoing investigation,” the statement said.

“In doing so the club is reliant on both the CFCB IC’s independence and commitment to due process; and on Uefa’s commitment of the 7th of March that it … will make no further comment on the matter while the investigation is ongoing.

“The New York Times report citing ‘people familiar with the case’ is therefore extremely concerning. The implications are that either Manchester City’s good faith in the CFCB IC is misplaced or the CFCB IC process is being misrepresented by individuals intent on damaging the club’s reputation and its commercial interests. Or both.

“Manchester City’s published accounts are full and complete and a matter of legal and regulatory record. The accusation of financial irregularities are entirely false, and comprehensive proof of this fact has been provided to the CFCB IC.”

A statement from Uefa said: “We do not comment on ongoing investigations regarding financial fair play matters.”

The tone of this statement is completely different from the reserved tone of previous comments (by the way, I like the "or both"). The club have clearly been angered by the way this investigation is being handled. You can see how this could get very dirty if allowed to do so. But far more interesting is the statement that CFCB IC have been given "comprehensive proof" - well, proof is proof so I'll be intrigued to see how this bit pans out. Also, the Guardian's comment about "an explanation of the emails" - well, at the start the club said that the leaked emails were out of context so the Guardian's supposition would fit with the earlier statement, and there may be other emails not leaked that neutralise the "incriminating" ones.

Anyway, I'm going to watch Villa and the Baggies which should be a bit more exciting than this stuff.