PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

Prestwich_Blue said:
I posted what you've replied to quickly while I was on the tram going home. then was out for the evening.

Having reflected I agree that my language was imprecise and there's no doubt that in the worst case scenario these are potentially serious charges. That worst case scenario involves us deliberately concealing legitimate expenses via Fordham and Al Jazira, and also deliberately reporting equity contributions that should go into the balance sheet as revenue. Additionally, by doing that we've presented a false picture of our finances (a potential criminal offence in itself) and have also misstated our finances vis-a-vis the PL and UEFA's financial control rules. So, yes, that certainly would entail serious consequences if proven.

My position however is that this worst case scenario is a false one.
  • The Mancini contract is a complete red herring, involving a total sum of less than £6m over three years when we reported huge losses. And if the PL has thrown that red herring into the pot, some on here feel it really can't be too confident in the rest of its case. The possible real reason for that contract w not to hide what should have been legitimate expenses off the books but to either carry on a contract that might have been in place prior to Mancini joining us, or to confer some tax advantage to him.
  • The Fordham one wasn't done to conceal expenses but was a device to increase revenue in 2012/13 in order to try to take advantage of the Annex XI provisions. Had we known in 2011/12 that we were never going to meet the requirements then I very much doubt we'd have entered into the arrangement. And we know that UEFA discussed this with us around 2014 or 2015, and no charges ever arose from that.
So you could take the view that these were fraudulent arrangements, knowingly entered into to hide expenses, or you could take the view that these were maybe artificial contracts but there was nothing illegitimate about them and that they were within rules that existed at the time, maybe at worst pushing the boundaries of the letter of those rules. My view is the latter opinion. And even if we take the worst case scenario view, it's probably unlikely there will have been any impact on FFP or the PL's Short Term Cost Control rules that were in force at the time.

Then there's the sponsorship charges, where we're assuming that there's potentially
  • A second attempt to challenge the legitimacy of those sponsorships in some way, meaning that we've significantly overstated our revenue and have deliberately misreported equity investment as revenue
  • An attempt to prove we've misreported related parties.
The first is potentially the most serious of all the charges, but unless the PL have a smoking gun that UEFA didn't have, that's unlikely to succeed. And, as I've said, the only snippet I've heard on this is that we presented the same evidence to the IC as we presented to CAS. But of course we don't know yet hat the PL found as part of its discovery process.

The related party issue, as I've said before, is one that runs through all our previous entanglements with the authorities, from the 2014 settlement, via CAS and the APT rule through to these charges. This will be the first time it's been properly tested and it would be a major shock if the Abu Dhabi companies were declared to be related parties by the IC. Our auditors, as Stefan has said, will want to be 200% sure of their ground on this, and that's not changed their view in the slightest. And even on the off chance that the IC did come down on the PL's side, then there has been nothing more han a technical misreporting, rather than financial chicanery.

So these are potentially serious charges I agree but my view is that the scenarios that make them serious (deliberate concealment) probably didn't exist.

Maybe you're being ultra-curious and maybe I'm being over#confident. We'll only know when we hear the outcome though.
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I couldn’t agree more, Colin.
I think the Mancini contract was to preserve his exit deal with Inter.
 
Dodge said:
Good post mate.

Just a quick scan of the rags 23/24 accounts and its plainly obvious (and joyous) how deep in the shit that club is. They're fucking potless. But allowed to owe fellow "football family" clubs £414 million in transfer fees.

FOUR HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN MILLION POUNDS.

Just think about that figure for a minute. It's scandalous. 75% of their debt is transfer fees they haven't paid in full. Now, I get it that the fees are structured and on the never-never, but there surely has to be a cap on the total liabilities any one club can owe to other clubs. It'll be half a BILLION next year.

I'm no accountant but if the worst (or best) happens and they go bust, they take a lot of other clubs with them. In my business, if we can't afford to pay our bills as they become due, we're insolvent. End of. Lay off the staff. Lock the fucking doors. Directors facing bankruptcy.

PSR was brought in to protect clubs and stop unsustainable spending. Well, those bastards in Stretford are taking the piss.

But, let's go after Citeh, the nouveau rich plastics, because that redtop-sponsored PL crusade will deflect attention from the real cheats.

Fucking sickens me, and I pray to God, the whole lot crumbles and burns. Like you, I've got a feeling our very own General Khaldoon will ride a tank right through the lot of the cunts.

I thank you.
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The unpaid transfer fees are just a reflection of the payment timetable agreed with the selling clubs. The question is: are these stage payments regulated at all? I feel they should be, so that clubs cant buy on the never never never.
 
feedmpenzaandhewillscore said:
All their money earned and organic growth shite they used to come out with. It’s not their money if it’s financed on the never, never. Their desperate attempt to keep up with City has crippled them as a club. It’s bloody joyous.,
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Only three Rag managers have ever won the league.
Two were ex blues bankrolled by sugar daddies and the third was bankrolled by the club floating on the stock exchange.
Same as the grief monkeys who were founded and bankrolled by a Tory Orangeman and later bankrolled by a family of Mancunians using money obtained through gambling.
The only thing organic is the shit spewing out of their entitled mouthes.
 
Storm in a teacup.

The more we dissect the flimsy evidence along with the high level required to prove this case it all seems rather duplicitous.

Constructed to tarnish our achievements.

I respect the legal and financial analysis but something don’t sit right with this case.

The accusations are so severe but not one report can be found as to what happens if it’s not proven? Masters will fall, so what. The league will be called incompetent, so what. The organ grinders will not be held accountable.

It all seems like a football tiff between billionaires that has gotten out of hand because they didn’t get their own way. Namely, shackling competition.

Take away the city feeling, take away the animosity towards us and you are still left with flimsy unfounded accusations.

The price of success.
 
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feedmpenzaandhewillscore said:
All their money earned and organic growth shite they used to come out with. It’s not their money if it’s financed on the never, never. Their desperate attempt to keep up with City has crippled them as a club. It’s bloody joyous.,
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They reckon it was before but they got their money from floating on the stock market. Opportunists bought shares in their future, so it allowed them to outspend everyone else, it could have gone wrong then.

If they want to complain about the Glazers they should complain about everything after they listed in 1991.
 
www.readbutneverred.com

Rumours of City’s demise have been greatly exaggerated

The unseemly haste to write Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City obituary was a contemptible concoction comprising amnesia, ignorance, spite and wishful thinking. In the wake of his team’s meek Champions League surrender in the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night, any desire to see off the...
www.readbutneverred.com www.readbutneverred.com
 
Cobwebcat said:
www.readbutneverred.com

Rumours of City’s demise have been greatly exaggerated

The unseemly haste to write Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City obituary was a contemptible concoction comprising amnesia, ignorance, spite and wishful thinking. In the wake of his team’s meek Champions League surrender in the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night, any desire to see off the...
www.readbutneverred.com www.readbutneverred.com
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Written by David Walker of the Athletic. One time director of Leeds FC and Barnsley FC.
 
I thought it was supposed to be revealed in February or March, but no problems

Lets wait another few months to see what the future holds.
 
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