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

[blueinsa]

Well, not exactly. Normally private organizations' rules must comply with relevant laws of the land. In this case FFP are clearly in restraint of trade, but the EU Commission allowed that sport was a special case. Worth noting that we won in the Belgian courts at first instance.

It is clear that the fight is going to be is FFP legal and can we get it thrown out.

That isn't happening at CAS, its the next fight and as per the statement last night from the club, they make it clear that CAS is "in the first instance".

I just hope they can.

 

[BlueRockape]

In which world can you not invest in your own company ?

 

[blueinsa]

But UEFA claim the Adjudicatory Chamber is completely independent from them. I think this has shown that there's a big hole in that claim. Be interesting to see if City can show that at CAS.

How can it be and how can they claim it to be when Ceferin is on record as wanting us to accept a deal?

 

[bitterblue]

Once upon a time, there was a really prestigious football tournament called the European Cup, which was based on sporting excellence. It brought together outstanding teams from across the continent. To qualify teams first had to prove themselves by winning their own league, this truly was a competition for champions.

With the glory though also came the opportunity for great wealth & eventually the principal of sporting excellence was overtaken by greed. The self-appointed elite of the time "the European Royalty" decided they wanted a greater share of the spoils & they wanted it guaranteed regardless of their performance!

The grubby little cartel (later known as the G14) threatened to break away & form their own Super League, unless everyone else agreed to their demands! Feeling they had little choice, UEFA caved in & the"Champions" League was born.

At the heart of this self-serving little cartel were 3 English clubs (Man United, Liverpool & Arsenal) & coincidentally the format of the new competition granted 3 places to English teams. It also changed from a straight knockout format to an initial group stage. So now not only could they still qualify by only finishing 2nd or 3rd in the Premier League, they were also guaranteed at least 6 lucrative fixtures each season.

BOOM! The money started rolling in & the big 3 got fatter, as they disappeared over the horizon, leaving the rest of the league with little chance of ever challenging their increasing financial dominance!

Then out of the blue, a wealthy Russian Oligarch, Roman Abramovich, rolled into town to bankroll Chelsea & gatecrash the party! With the gravy train now under threat, the greedy little threesome convinced UEFA to increase the English allocation to 4 places! Phew disaster averted, onwards & upwards, no harm done...

That was until the "evil" Sheikh Mansour bought Manchester City with his unlimited "dirty oil money!"!

Now with UEFA unable or unwilling to accommodate this latest unwelcome guest at the top table, a new strategy was required to preserve the dominance of the established elite. Without further a do, the "Financial Fair Play" was conceived!

This had little to do with "fair play", turning a blind eye to debt ridden clubs & owners that systematically drained money out of the game! It was solely designed to stop wealthy owners investing in clubs & making them competitive; thus ensuring the lazy established elite remained unchallenged.

Undeterred by the bogus nature of these new constraints targeted at them & any future investors, Manchester City embarked on transforming the club, with initial investment to break the cartel & putting top quality people in place, off the field as well as on it.

In addition to breaking all records on the pitch, the club has now achieved commercial sustainability & delivered 4 years of profit. The club is now independently valued at over £2B (reportedly outstripping all the Premier League old-guard). This has shown a huge return on Sheikh Mansour's £1.2B investment & dispelling the lie of "financial doping".

So what do the owners of the established "European Royalty" do now? Up their game? Risk their own money to meet the challenge? No! They utilise their stooges in the media to try & discredit City's achievements & demand UEFA do "something" to derail Citys' progress!

Manchester City FC -
Centurions
Fourmidables
Champions of England (again)
FA Cup holders
League Cup holders
The best ran football club in the world!

Thank you Sheikh Mansour, thank you Kaldoon & Thank you Pep Guardiola.

 

[remember arthur mann]

It's going to be intriguing to see what City has in the way of "irrefutable evidence in support of its position". That suggests that they think it is something that will hold up in a real court and it may imply there's something up their sleeve but we can only wait to see.

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

The other question, is once it gets legal, just how powerful and how far is Abu Dhabi, and by extension, the UAE willing to go?

The UAE vs. UEFA is a different argument entirely. Interesting what Switzerland thinks then.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Quite a few posters have suggested that we should attempt to blow the rules out of the water. This is easier said than done.
1. Who has jurisdiction in such an action? Switzerland, the ECJ, British courts? Are we in or out of the ECJ on dec.31?
2. The ECJ washed their hands of the challenge in the previous attempt and sent it back to Belgium.
3. EU Commission sanctioned the rules.
4. We might be able to challenge the PL on legality of their rules.
We need a legal eagle here.

This is my worry.

They are UEFA rules and as such, its down to them to have whatever rules they like.

I would be very happy to hear from a learned legal resource on this but here are basic answers based on my review of various reports/materials related to FFP over the last few years.

1. There are multiple jurisdictions, so we may very well pursue a case in several to ensure at least one “sticks”. The CL is a European competition, administrated by a European organisation, and regardless of whether the UK is in or out of the EU, the club could bring a case to the ECJ regarding regulations enforced for that competition, just like EU law applies to you when you are in the EU even if you are from a non-member nation.
2. This will be a different challenge based on demonstrable financial and operational impacts of trade/investment restriction.
3. EU commission sanctioned the rules but that does not mean they are inherently fundamentally legal. There have been laws struck down (in part or whole) well after implementation because of subsequent scrutinisation in the courts.
4. Yes, we can definitely challenge the PL on their version of FFP in addition to challenge UEFA FFP.

 

[Metalartin]

Who ever wrote this, can you please not speak on behalf of City fans or tell us what to do ever again you prat!

https://www.football365.com/news/ma..._Related_Articles_Unit&utm_campaign=Benchmark

Edit:
Haha I'm convinced this is a dipper now:

And it’s not just the victims of the Abu Dhabi regime we should have been concerned about. The money poured into the club by our owners has distorted the game. We have been a major contributor to the inflation of transfer fees and wages, with massive clubs prospering while smaller clubs (including in our own city) go bust and fans are priced out of watching the sport.

Getting this one in, just incase the CAS side with City:

Whether or not our lawyers find technicalities to overturn or reduce this ban, this is the moment we should all finally realise this needs to stop. The FFP rules may be flawed (as is UEFA, their enforcer), but they were clearly designed to stop owners pouring money into clubs in a way that distorts the game and is unsustainable for the club. Which is exactly what our owners have been doing. Fans of other clubs may be hypocritical when they say this about us, but that doesn’t mean they are wrong.

The idiot doesn't even know what FFP was designed for or how it was repurposed.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

How can it be and how can they claim it to be when Ceferin is on record as wanting us to accept a deal?

If that's the case (and I believe it was) it simply can't be.

 

[come-on-barney]

Well judging by all the smiles from the players and Pep today in training, we seem to be in very good spirits judging by the pictures.