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

[Deleted member 77198]

conn at it again

He’s a fucking weasel that bloke

 

[jamesha]

(If Manchester City offered a vote to the fans.) CAS and Uefa offered a suspended ban with a heavy fine which way should we go?

Tell UEFA to go f**K themselves and we'll see them in court - this needs to be resolved for good.

 

[ArmchairPundit]

The media coverage of this news around Europe and the UK has left me so shocked. I cannot belive the things that are being said. Where are the so called journalists who actually report the facts and put forward both sides of the case?

If we have done wrong, I like many others will take our medicine and move on, however the owners are not daft and would not be taking the position they have if we are in the wrong and deserve this punishment.

Speaking to a Spurs fan today who was happy about our current situation and wants to see us punished even more. I said to him , can't you see, today it's City that they have come after and you're happy about it. What will you say when it's your turn?

I will support my club and I will never be afraid to speak up where I see our club as doing something wrong. The media really have to hang their heads in shame. For the supporters of other clubs who are jumping for joy, I ask them to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. This is more than just having a go at City. This is a calculated attack by a select few who believe that they are ruling elite.

 

[Kirkstall Blue]

You are right, there is no guarantee that a legal challenge to FFP will be successful, and there are risks involved, to be sure.

But, I think your stance is based on a few dubious premises:

1) FFP, in its current or later modified state (for which we undoubtedly will have no input), will not be used to curtail City development in the future.

This is almost certainly false for very obvious reasons.

2) UEFA will threaten or actually expell City or perhaps all English teams from the Champions League if City were to mount a legal challenge to FFP.

This is *probably* false given that any such action could itself spark a legal challenge of unlawful retaliation from an industry regulatory body, which could be won at great (perhaps catastrophic) expense to UEFA even if the City challenge to FFP failed. Sion (and a few other examples) are very different to City challenging FFP in the courts as they were clubs with limit resources and stature so could be very easily bullied in to submission (they had little functional recourse).

3) The current damage done to the City brand and standing will be the last instance of such degradation brought about by UEFA and affiliated adversaries.

This, of course, is most certainly false. And, despite what some studies may tell you (many of them from brand management agencies who are incentivised to convince organisations that brand damage doesn’t matter much), continued hits to the integrity of a brand — and an organisation’s standing in the specific industry — will eventually lead to investment challenges and, in the case of football, suppression of sponsorship potential. That is especially the case in our social media / outage age. I actually think many of the brand value studies are fairly out of sink with the commercial environment that exists now.

4) That our relationship with current UEFA leadership is not irrevocably damaged beyond mending.

I think most reasonable observers would say this is unlikely to be true and that for City to have any hope of ever getting a seat adjacent to the table, much less at it (as PSG have), there would need to be a major change either with our leadership and organisation (perhaps even extending to ownership) or UEFA’s.

Ultimately, not attempting to remove or significantly change FFP will only serve to further inhibit City’s (as well as most other European clubs’) development in the future and, in my opinion, be seen by City leadership and ownership as acquiescing to UEFA power and control, which by extension means bowing to the cartel clubs control.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Are what?

 

[SebastianBlue]

@Kirkstall Blue You rang? ;-)

 

[manimanc]

I don’t think most blues would disagree with you.

But I believe the point @Keeper! Was trying to make is that our assessment is becoming less and less common among the people outside of the City organisation and current support, especially as the media continue to publish what are basically ‘hit pieces’, which will have an impact on the club.

Apart from Martin Samuel every journalist have written utter crap about us for over 10 years, I'd say the media have tried their hardest to drag our name through the mud and tarnish our reputation.
This latest accusation won't change or amend people's minds or suddenly paint us in a bad light as I believe the media have succeded in making us the bad guys. I hope this latest UEFA hatchet job has finally opened the club's eyes, khaldoon's eyes and more importantly sheikh mansour's eyes and they say enough is enough and the gloves are off.

Our owners have done brilliantly as we all know, renovating the club, the area and making the premier league more interesting too, they aren't here for a quick fix like the glazers.
Why aren't UEFA after these debt ridden clubs?

 

[SilverFox2]

I disagree.

I don’t think the prospect of additional competition from more billionaire owned clubs out ways the prospect of FFP continually being able to hinder City’s operations and development. As it stands right now, our leadership are not going to be given a seat at the table to be part of any decision making to change FFP to be more favourable to us, either. I think they initially didn’t challenge because they thought they may be able to get a seat at the table but have learned — very much the hard way — that is not going to happen.

Which means allowing FFP to continue to exist will very likely mean continued attacks by UEFA and any party invested in restricting or damaging us, ad infinitum. And the only way to create a more favourable version under the premise you have presented would be to tear down UEFA and be part of a reformation, which would most likely happen via a successful challenge of FFP (within a framework of exposing corruption within its formulation, subsequent modifications, implementation, and enforcement).

I think our owners would very happily take competition on a *more* (as we know it will not be perfectly) level playing field than competition inherently favouring United, Barcelona, Madrid, Bayern, and so on.

You are not wrong, our owner is an investor and is better used to competition than any of the PL owners.
His reputation was such that FFP was modified to particularly exclude him so his business plans usually work whatever sector of business he chooses.

Cartels are illegal in the real world to prevent what tends to happen in football so their barrier to entry shows weakness and fear not strength and courage.

 

[kaz7]

N

(If Manchester City offered a vote to the fans.) CAS and Uefa offered a suspended ban with a heavy fine which way should we go?

NO

 

[blueballs84]

The media has been (unsurprisingly) disgraceful in actually reporting the known facts of the case.