Champions League ban?

There were two issues about Etihad; was it a related party and, if so, was the deal fair value. The latter only came into play if the former was true. UEFA's view, via PWC, was that Etihad was a related party but that the deal was fair value. We, along with our auditors BDO, disputed the view of Etihad as a related party but if the deal was fair value then that's irrelevant to a large degree.

However the key issue is who was funding Etihad if they weren't providing the funding directly and wholly out of their own funds. ADUG are definitely a related party as they are our ultimate owners via CFG. So if any of the money that's come from Etihad has come from ADUG then that would be classed as hidden owner investment and would well see us in an extremely vulnerable position. But I can tell you with 100% certainty that it hasn't, as ADUG would be stupid to do it that way. The money for the Etihad sponsorship came from the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. This came out as part of a case that's been running against the Gulf airlines accusing them of accepting state aid and it's in the public domain. As had been said on here ' His Highness' refers to Sheikh Mohammed (MBZ) not Sheikh Mansour.

That opens up a completely different set of calculations and I'd say that leaves us technically in the clear in terms of FFP although there's a new set of questions about disguised ownership and influence. This is a situation that UEFA simply didn't foresee; Abramovich funded Chelsea directly (at leat we assume he did) and Qatar openly did the same for PSG. We came up with a much more subtle model of a personal owner but one who clearly had the full backing of the state. Good luck with that UEFA.
Thanks for the explanation.
 
Sometimes I really hate living in the US. The only half-decent football radio channel just had Rob Harris on and you could hear how disgustingly excited he was speculating on us being banned and the announcers didn't do anything except to breathlessly ask Harris about what would happen in his expert opinion. Fortunately for them, they get to talk about United for the billionth time today now so it's business as usual. (Both announcers are British, by the way, so it isn't some weird American thing.)
 
Interesting that something in the public domain hasn't been picked up by any of the investigative journalists who write so knowledgeably about our misdeeds. Perhaps they aren't actually that interested in the facts.
 
Sometimes I really hate living in the US. The only half-decent football radio channel just had Rob Harris on and you could hear how disgustingly excited he was speculating on us being banned and the announcers didn't do anything except to breathlessly ask Harris about what would happen in his expert opinion. Fortunately for them, they get to talk about United for the billionth time today now so it's business as usual. (Both announcers are British, by the way, so it isn't some weird American thing.)


I was listening as well, what a prick Rob Harris is, the interviewer was positively breathless in his excitement and another prick of the highest standing!!
Nor often it’s decent about our footie but this was a new low for the cnuts!
 
Interesting that something in the public domain hasn't been picked up by any of the investigative journalists who write so knowledgeably about our misdeeds. Perhaps they aren't actually that interested in the facts.
Facts just get in the way of a good story mate.
 
Interesting that something in the public domain hasn't been picked up by any of the investigative journalists who write so knowledgeably about our misdeeds. Perhaps they aren't actually that interested in the facts.

Football journalists often don't understand it. It's not what their career has been about. The same applies among journalists in other sports. It's not even that much of a criticism, it's just not something they've ever had to deal with. The problem is with those who don't understand it and still pontificate as though they do.
 

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.