PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

We should have gone to court to re-sign a player outside a transfer winder who was on a temporary transfer, which was against the rules clearly, but not for something that could set the club back ten years.

Ignore so called experts, as no one is an expert in this area on here on a scenario that has never happened.
 
That being said, I don’t think it’ll take anything like that long. In fact, Mr Blue Sky that I am, I think it might all be over and done with by July!
All I keep reading on here are about appeals this and appeals that, coupled with people moaning that fans of other clubs have already found us guilty! I
’m firmly of the view that we will be found innocent of the vast majority, if not all, of the charges and all this talk about high courts and appeals is nonsensical.
The PL suits want this dealt with as quickly as possible and a verdict which either exonerates us completely or finds us guilty of some technical error, which we perhaps made every year, might well be the outcome. If the PL ‘lost’ that would be that, if the technical error was ‘proven’ and we accepted some sort of fine, that would also be that.
What the PL DON’T want is this going on for 4 years especially if City won 2/3 or even all 4 titles in that time.
The PL is basically the hateful 8. So they would like this to drag on
 
The mistake there is that the charges actually go up to 2023.
The club were right to stop co-operating on ongoing matters when charged in 2018. As the charges go up to 2023, what the PL were essentially doing is trying to place us under unprecedented supervisory and special measures. They were asking us to submit paperwork as and when it was being produced. They had absolutely no right to do that because they had no evidence to believe that we were committing offences at the time the charges were brought. As such, I think any charges relating to late 2018-2023 should be easy to dismiss. If the smoking gun is supposedly the Der Spiegel hack, then anything subsequent to that is surely inadmissible. I believe therefore that there is a mud-slinging element to this.
 
You’re last sentence is interesting, “wouldn’t actively invite scrutiny”? Just what do you think has been happy over the last decade?
Do you think City were happy that all their emails are those hacked emails are in the public domain?

They won at CAS but it's hard to argue that it was a huge reputational victory. They'd have much preferred the emails never to have seen the light of day, so why would they actively start court cases where they'd be expected to share that information publicly? Libel cases in this country are a total shitshow for all involved.
 
Seems like another bombshell charge has dropped!
City have been charged with falsifying gate receipts by using the fans singing “we’re not really here” in their accounts and the PL have since been watching TV and have definitely spotted that that is an ’irregularity’.
 
Woke up this morning and felt a need to write something as a life long Manchester City fan. So much negativity around the club that I love and have watched since 1968.

It has been said in the media world that the truth should never get in the way of a good story. Over the course of my life, 60 years this far, I have seen this to be self evident in many many situations, both sporting and non.

Their job is to sell newspapers, get clicks and stir the pot. It has always been so. It may feel different in this scenario because they are going after our beloved Manchester City but we have been here before and won. .

We know what it feels like to be fucked.To feel like it has all gone tits up.

Halifax in the Cup.
Luton and David Pleat.
Ricky Villa.
Years and years of spankings by the different red shirts. Knowing we were shit and still showing up. We were there, somewhere, having our own experience of being City.

We know what it feels like.

Unlike all of our antagonists, who have dined for a long time at the top table. Who gorged themselves on a cycle of unfettered success. Unchallenged because of the hegemony they created.
They became complacent and stuffed full of themselves and their self important shite. Corrupt and bloated to the core.

They do not know how it feels to lose.

So when we kicked the door down, because it was the only way in, and brought a level of competition they could not live with,they did not have the spine for the fight. None of them. They tried to meet us on the pitch and failed. They tried through UEFA to knock us out and they failed again. So now they resort to the only weapon they have left. Old money. Old power. Friends in high places. The real corruption. Hidden in plain sight.

But they have picked a fight with a club who know how to scrap.We know the pain of losing big and we know how to come back from that.

Dropping 2 divisions.
Dark days and grim gallows humour.That place somewhere in the old ridings where 300,000 of us watched on in the shadows
Then Gillingham. A moment when the future looked so bleak that people walked away from Wembley , muttering "fucking typical City," only to be drawn back by a miracle.
Imagine that we had lost. I did. And I knew we would still be here come the next season.
QPR. Dead and buried. To make matters worse the old enemy winning it all. Again. Not in my lifetime. You think? Another miracle. A big fuck off metaphorical wink from Mario.

Champions.

Only this.

Just the beginning.

This club, players, management and of course us, the supporters, do not ever lie down.This too I have witnessed. Time and time again. We are City.
It is not even about the winning for me. When you have lost so many times you understand the balance of all things more deeply. You know you can always lose and it makes the joy of winning something our red friends will never ever get to experience.

The day Sergio scored was the loudest noise I ever heard in a football ground and I knew why. That banner. That sanctimonious, rub it in our faces spineless bunch of toss perpetrated by the prawn sandwich brigade. The old money. They never saw it coming. Noisy neighbours indeed.

I understood completely and more than ever before what it meant to be a Manchester City fan.
We can lose this current fight and we will still be here. That's what makes us a fucker to fight with. We don't know when we are beaten.

We're Man City.

We'll fight to the end.
 
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I suspect the PL, just like UEFA, assume guilt and in all likelihood know we have bent rules. However, knowing (or suspecting) and proving it are very different, you only need to read the comments from the UEFA guy who tried to get us. He’s clearly bitter and frustrated because although he just knew deep inside we were taking the piss, he just couldn’t prove it with the half arsed hacks he had!
The PL are beating the same drum with the same info, they may well know we have trod in to grey areas but proving a rule break is almost impossible for them. City’s owners are not stupid, they are not amateurs and they are well aware of the loopholes and grey areas of FFP (we employed the two gents who wrote the rules!) so it’s fair to assume we have done the same with any PL rules and guidelines in relation to our business.
I fully expect some silly ruling where we are banned from XYZ, fIned huge sums and suffer a points deduction. I then expect City to blow it all apart through the legal system and have it all overturned. It won’t be quick, it won’t be without short term pain and it won’t be pretty… But, I do fully expect us to be vindicated and see the PL have to make a public apology at some point.
On the side, I think we can look forward to some future scandals being “leaked” to the media regarding the PL or ”big clubs”, maybe we’ll see individuals having a bright light on them to the point they have to retire from positions or step down in disgrace. Hey, who knows, we may see leaked hacked emails from other clubs or individuals too. One things for sure, any “revenge” or “payback” will be from the shadows, in the light City will be as professional as is humanly possible but those shadows follow closely behind the light don’t forget.
 
This is brilliant. I'm writing my next missive for KOTK so have been going through the rule books to see exactly what we've been charged with, and it's clear the PL have fucked it up big time. For example, in 2011/12, they've charged us with a breach of Rule E11. That rule in the 2011/12 Pl Handbook says "Each club shall enter the FA Cup".

I've looked at a few others and it's a similar story. They've seemingly charged us against another rule which says that, except for televised games, all PL games will be played on Saturdays at 3pm.

It's an absolute fuck up.

I guess they waived E11 when the rags decided they didn't want to participate?!!

I'm actually numb to it all now. Pick on City as it's the easy target. Let's go through the red cartel's accounts with a fine toothcomb and see what dirt we find. See them crawl back under that rock.
 
Whether we clear our name or not, the damage is done and its exactly what was wanted by the other shithouse clubs behind this. Luckily, I and I'm pretty sure the majority of other blues couldn't give a flying fuck what other people think.

Ironically, rags, dips, etc are in a win win situation...we 'lose' they get what they want which is stuck mud, ickle Citeh are cheats etc etc. We 'win', they'll also get what they want which is a Super League. If City destroy the PL in court (this is what I personally believe will happen), its a hop skip and a jump to away days in Milan. PL has been played like a fiddle here.

*rolls eyes*
 
The PL is basically the hateful 8. So they would like this to drag on

It isn't.
Pretty certain Newcastle aren't much interested.
Burnley aren't in the PL.
Leicester may not care much any more.
That leaves the others of the nominal 'top six'.

My take on that letter to CAS was not to get City banned, but to get a decision within the season, and not have it drag on.
The reason for most of them was that they had a one-off chance of qualifying for Europe - if it was delayed, then City occupied a slot; if any ban was instigated immediately, it freed a slot in the CL to one of them, and a EL slot for one of them.
Leicester, Newcastle, Burnley were all vying for those places (Leicester for the CL, I think), but I didn't think it was "get City", it was "get it decided this season".
I think pretty much only 1-2 were clearly going to qualify for the CL anyway, and even then there may have been benefits to money distribution for them.
 
Regarding the evidence, we really don't know the strength of what they have. Groups intent on a witch hunt don't need "strong evidence" to carry on with their vendetta. Look up the origins of the term "witch hunt" if need be.
The case is actually going to be based upon a lack of evidence. For example, as part of their rules they'll ask for details of a transaction with Etihad but they'll of received nothing and the trail ends so that would be a charge. Repeat this over numerous transactions and dealings and we get to 100+ charges, it was no different with UEFA.

The question then comes to not whether city were wrong but rather where the accusations sit in terms of fairness and whether the rules themselves are fit for purpose. Both of these will end up in a court as city have done nothing wrong that is actually illegal but it's being framed that way.

On reputation grounds the Premier League will want to avoid this kind of legal action at all costs because they'll probably lose. They've already lost in their ability to hold a fair case as they've communicated everything in public first which is a no-no in a legal case. I can honestly see us being found guilty but they'll be very generous in terms of punishment and we'll see if city settle it there. UEFA didn't do this and took it further and we won at appeal in CAS.

The proof is in the pudding. They could of relegated every single club which signed up for the European Super League but instead they were all given pathetic fines. The reason why the punishments were so pathetic is because UEFA/PL don't want tinpot teams winning their competitions as who is going to pay to sponsor a Champions League final between two nobodies?

The only real example of punishments being dealt out harshly and rightly so was the Italian Calciopoli scandal years ago but that was due to actual illegal corruption which ended in prison sentences for many football executives.
 
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looks to me like the PL eventually are going to trip up on their own shoelaces the Lawyer city have appointed would have already looked at the charges, he's not going to take a case on when were about to be stuffed when he holds a possition so high up the ladder, 'not good for his reputation or business', the PL have slung as much as they can at us as if its been gathered up by a school leaver in the office trying to make a name for himself
 
The loan arrangement is probably more defensible. I have no idea what actually happened. However, those in the know at CFG feel confident they can defend this successfully. Let's hope they are right.
Not sure it's such a big deal if they can't actually. No FFP, just an administrative breach.
 
Whether we clear our name or not, the damage is done and its exactly what was wanted by the other shithouse clubs behind this. Luckily, I and I'm pretty sure the majority of other blues couldn't give a flying fuck what other people think.

Ironically, rags, dips, etc are in a win win situation...we 'lose' they get what they want which is stuck mud, ickle Citeh are cheats etc etc. We 'win', they'll also get what they want which is a Super League. If City destroy the PL in court (this is what I personally believe will happen), its a hop skip and a jump to away days in Milan. PL has been played like a fiddle here.

*rolls eyes*
The damage was done before this week, this doesn’t change anything. Personally I could care of other fans or teams think we cheated, fuck them. If we get off then they can say and think what they want, the process will say otherwise and City could in theory then start liable cases if they wanted (I don’t ever think they will, it’s not worth the drama).
 
Regarding the evidence, we really don't know the strength of what they have. Groups intent on a witch hunt don't need "strong evidence" to carry on with their vendetta. Look up the origins of the term "witch hunt" if need be.
As long as they don't throw us into Spurs' stadium to see if we don't drown ....
 
100% this would NOT qualify as serious irregularity

It's also had a dim view taken of it before by UEFA and CAS.

We shouldn't go down the route of alleged press briefings and any KC being crooked or biased.

It will get us nowhere fast and just come across as muddying the waters.
 
I just looked at the documents de Spiegel released as I also couldn't understand this but I think the issue is RM had a contract with Al Jazira but there are bank transfers from City paying that salary .
it is but taking a £600m turnover company and arguing about the accounting of a £1.8 million payment is ridiculous if you ask me. It's next to nothing in percentage terms
 

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