After yesterday's euphoria I'm feeling a touch more rational today. I was so confident that we would prevail that I hardly gave the consequences of failure a thought but today I'm sweating at what might have been - but then the rosy glow of success brings relief and I begin to assess the benefits of victory.
I agree completely with Martin Samuel that this whole business was an attempt by the establishment, English and European, to destroy our club and UEFA were their tool, willing or otherwise, and FFP was their weapon. The cost of failure seems, at the moment, minimal for the gang of 14 but for UEFA it could be imminent. Whatever the view in the media there is no doubt that City's victory on the substantive issue was total: CAS said straight out that City did not disguise owner investment as sponsorship. Within UEFA questions must be asked about how this debacle happened, about how they could possibly have gone as far as CAS with no evidence at all of any breaches of FFP. This must put a spotlight on our friendly ex- Belgian PM, Leterme. How can any chief investigator allow so many leaks from a supposedly confidential process, including the leaking of the sentence before the investigation had begun!? How could he deny so vehemently that there had been any leaks? He has to go.
These are relatively minor matters though. The IC itself raises far more fundamental questions. The presence of our other cuddly friend, the convinced, lifelong Livarpool fan, Mr Parry, in its ranks raises the question of conflict of interest but also the far more concerning one of the role and influence of the ECA. How is it that the ECA which claims to represent 262 clubs in Europe has not uttered a word of support for Manchester City? Why does it only ever speak for the privileged and entitled? How can such an organisation allow a Bavarial loudmouth and convicted felon to speak on its behalf on matters of financial probity? However much UEFA trumpets the good that FFP has done football it cannot escape the reality that many establishment clubs are fully compliant but at the same time find their liabilities exceed the value of their assets, in some cases comfortably so. And why is it that UEFA has allowed itself to be pushed into a position where it feels that support for a financially illiterate and commercially brainless set of regulations dictates a vendetta, culminating in a vindictive prosecution, of the most successful English club on the field and the world's most successful off it? Six years ago UEFA sneered that City should be grateful for the sanction because it was to protect us from the consequences of our owners financial (mis)management. Patiently our chairmen suggested we review that opinion in 6 years' time. Well, here we are. And there UEFA are, licking their wounds, chained to the skeleton of a discredited FFP. And there City are: the most valuable sports organisation on earth, valued at $5.5 billion. This value is not based on a figure plucked out of the sky by a newspaper eager to curry favour but by money actually invested. Two organisations from two different continents and two very different cultural backgrounds have decided how mucg CFG is worth by putting their money where their mouths are.
Just as one final point: if and when UEFA conclude they need help in sorting out the mess kow towing to the G 14 has landed them in there is a fairly obvious place they should look
