PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

[flb]

Pep’s future is the least of our concerns.

I think it is tbh , who’s going to manage us through this shit storm , the club have denied any wrongdoing, and Pep is going to get asked about it in every single press conference as long as he’s here, who’s going to come in and manage us with all this shit going on , because they will also have to fend off non football matters.
Soriano needs to come out quick on the press with this immediately, and threaten to sue anybody who speaks untruths - the club can’t just put out a weak club statement as a denial , this needs sorting out by him or someone further up the food chain , sort it fucking out now City before the club implodes.

 

[jjctid]

The owners deserve a lot of credit for what they’ve given the community in Manchester and their investment in developing parts of east Manchester

Totally true and largely unpraised by the majority. On a sidenote I wonder if our owners ( knowledgeable that they are ) would of anticipated the vitriol that our club has received.

 

[Atypical]

Looking at the timing, the PL are obviously concerned that Arsenal could win the league and have merely tried to create a siege mentality at City to stop their parade clashing with Charlies coronation. More power to them.

On a more serious note I am bored of this already and I am only on page 138. City will clear their name again, the red tops will print spurious shite for the next god knows how long, lapped up by the usual idiots.
I do hope that City end playing nice and actual do start acting like the shits we are made out to be.

 

[MadchesterCity]

What's the worse that can possibly happen?
Relegation to League 2?
Is there anyone here who will stop supporting the club?
Fuck it, I'll support it more. Will probably be able to afford the Tunnel Club as all the corporates and tourists will fuck off, and we'll be sponsored by Hyde's Brewery or something.
6-7 years and we'll be back in the PL.
Fuck the lot of them. The PL and the Cartel Clubs are 20 times more corrupt than City has been or ever will be. And don't start me on PiGMOL and the gambling syndicates. All bent as nine bob notes.

Well said

 

[LongsightM13]

I just compared the original statement to the updated one and it's really not as big as the club are implying (though I can see why lawyers would find it amusing or annoying). They initially listed 1d - 1h as "premier league rules 16" when they meant "B16". See below. So possibly a sign of it being rushed, and certainly a typo, but not exactly a smoking gun.

View attachment 68266

Not a smoking gun but certainly supports the theory that this was rushed with obscene haste for purely political reasons around the white paper and an independent regulator
I think City would probably now support a truly independent body that keeps the criminals and vested interests of the old G14 to heel

 

[flb]

i farted and followed through

I do that everyday , it’s no biggy

 

[MikeF]

Watching SSN, I’d like Mike Wedderburn to stick his nut on this prat he’s interviewing.

 

[Impeccable One]

Here's what I just sent to a rag 'mate' of mine who wanted to know what I thought ...

In 2014 City were fined for breaches of FFP. I'm not going to argue that rules were or were not broken, knowingly. But it can be shown that rules were CHANGED after accounts were submitted, causing City to fail FFP. At that time, we accepted the fine, our Chairman Khaldoon described as a pinch, and decided to move on.

Now, moving forward to today's news ....

From a non-partizen perspective, does anyone believe that City from that moment forward (2014) would not be going over every FA/PL/UEFA/CL rule with a fine toothcomb to ensure they could argue with confidence they were not breaking any rules ? Of course not.

Notice how I phrased that .... "they could argue with confidence they were not breaking any rules". So, do I believe City at every turn were/are making decisions in their best interest which they believe they can prove are allowed according to the rules ? YES.

From the other perspective, does anyone believe that someone in the club, after 2014, is allowed to make a decision that 'the club/owners' feel would be deemed against the rules of FA/PL/UEFA/CL and just hope we don't get caught ? Of course not.

Is there a chance we're found guilty of not providing information, but not guilty of breaking financial rules ? Absolutely YES.

So, as others much better educated than I, have said, this will come down to whose legal team can provide the better argument in front of any adjudicator(s).

I think the hearing will be ..... this is what we did, you say it's illegal, we disagree, and here's why. And the "Here's Why" will have been researched by the finest legal minds money can buy !

Will there be another 'pinch' involved ? probably. Will it be a 'pinch' we can live with ? probably. Will the decision once and for all remove the 'financial doping/cheat' from Manchester City's name ? NO, the damage has been done and can never be rectified.

 

[MCFC1993]

Whats this white paper thing

Government due to appoint an independent regulator of football. They don't really want to do it, the Premier League don't want it to happen and the big clubs don't want it to happen, more scrutiny isn't good for them.

Following this announcement it's been conveniently delayed as the Premier League try to show their tough stance.

 

[Bell7575]

It's unlikely it'll be a fast process, with this many allegations it will be a lengthy process to unwind them and it seems likely that even if found guilty of anything we'll see any punishment stayed pending appeal.

And I believe the lack of co-operation charges date back several years and are not based on what happened in the very recent term.

The biggest worry to me is what happens until things are settled. I could see this being a significant blocker to recruitment - would top talent sign with the sword of Damocles hanging, I doubt it. And if we're innocent, all the worse ... it could be a drawn-out process that ruins several seasons. If the club did break any regulations I do hope they come to a settlement and take a reasonable punishment quickly - though this remains to be seen, clearly.

Particularly as players could in theory get banned. See the stuff with Juventus and talk of 30 days ban.

 

[flook]

Hang on a second - are you talking about the media approach or these specific allegations? I would agree that we have been too passive with the media, but in terms of the content of statements relating to specific allegations, I'd say we've worded them just fine.

Media approach, the formal allegations will be dealt with through the proper channels

 

[Damanino]

if we didnt spend last 4-5 years collecting dirt on rivals which now we can set free front of world we were not just naive but very stupid too.

 

[Sky Blue]

Watching SSN, I’d like Mike Wedderburn to stick his nut on this prat he’s interviewing.

Fucking clueless that prick. Winding me up though.

 

[It'sBlue93:20]

It’s not a clear 100 charges most of the charges are the same charge just over multiple years so if you clear that charge you clear 10 or so.

 

[Bodicoteblue]

Only 3 possible outcomes to this;

1. EPL prove their case, fines and/or points and/or relegation and/or titles stripped. Result - 50k+ crowds in League 2
2. Gets mucky, drags out, OVO go all the way and sue the tw*ts. Result - 3 or 4 more years of reputational stain, and owners double down on investment and quality in the meantime*
3. City get quick hearing and whole thing bombed out. Result - another year of sh*te, then back to where we are now

Personally I think it's 2 unfortunately ..

Couple of things do concern me;

1. Our statement did not say 'these allegations are categorically untrue', which makes me think they are going for the interpretation defense
2. *Owners have not released any statement to the effect of 'whatever the outcome, we are here for the long term' to give the fanbase assurances/boil the piss elsewhere. Might be too early for that, but would be nice to know our sponsorship deals in League 2 would rival Wrexham's :-)

One other consideration, this isn't just about Abu Dhabi - Silverlake, a US base globally recognized Investment firm own c20% of the group - EPL would ruin their investor friendly environment plan for the league that attracted the US investors initially and underpins the valuations of most clubs, unless that is the plan so Dippers and Pride of Singapore can get their target asking prices for their sales ..

Never dull ..

I feel that there might be another option.
If the PL look back at the UEFA debacle, the one thing that sticks out is that the general consensus amongst the un/Ill-informed was that we ’got away with it‘ on technicalities and that whatever was in the CAS judgement, which they never read, was irrelevant as we were patently guilty as fuck based on that perception alone.
I would not not be surprised if the current PL case fell apart and was dismissed without a verdict (it appears they may have already bungled their statement) thus allowing more of the ‘got away with it‘ stuff.

 

[chesterbells]

He now writes for the Times?

Yeah, I’ve started the 3 months for £3 trial subscription when he moved there - pretty handy tbh - though I’m not sure I’ll carry on when it moves to the full £26/month!

 

[ballbag]

You think?

The global organisations/ countries that now commonly own football clubs play by whatever rules they can get away with. I don't think City are any more guilty than a number of other European clubs of 'stretching' the rules to whatever extent they feel they need to in order to push forward. Only one thing matters - have you been smart enough to cover your arse? That's the only question that remains to be answered. No ethics, morals etc. involved.

City dodged the UEFA attack. I have no clue as to whether or not they were unfairly targeted in the first place, or just very good at getting out of a tough spot. Good luck with this one lads, sincerely. For the rest of us it's time to grab the popcorn!

The fans never deserve this shit. Just count yourselves lucky you're not getting fucked over by the UK Government like we did last year!

And btw, where's your CL?! :)

It was going so well until the last sentence. You bastard :D

 

[NorthamptonBlue]

These 2 doom mongers loving the clicks and attention today . Fuck listen to that . Rather listen to Gary glitters greatest hits

I think it's 'beyond reasonable doubt' in a criminal case, but the burden of proof isn't as high in a civil case. Not sure how it's worded but it's along the lines of reasonable standard I think.

On the balance of probability I think.

 

[JASR]

Same. Maybe because it was the morning after the game yesterday, but I was pretty miserable this morning after this broke. Maybe a moment that felt as bleak as the Super League moment did. But yeah, having read that and some of the stuff around the white paper, I hope we fight like bastards and send this commission packing.

Yes it definetly was the same feeling I got with the ESL news.

 

[SidJames]

Sounds desperate.

Is it really correct that we will have no right to appeal any decision made by a panel of hand picked Rag/Liverpool sycophants ?

Surely there must be an arbitration and appeal process ?

What options do we have then to challenge a Premier League Kangaroo Court finding ?

They talk about justice and transparency yet operate like a Cartel.