City & FFP | 2020/21 Accounts released | Revenues of £569.8m, £2.4m profit (p 2395)

[worsleyweb]

Re: City & FFP (continued)

Does this mean the pies will go up???

 

[BlueAnorak]

Re: City & FFP (continued)

Lets just spell out what the club said:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Club-news/2014/May/Club-statement-16-May" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Club-news/20 ... ent-16-May</a>

MCFC Financial Fair Play Statement:
Manchester City Football Club can confirm that at the end of the current financial year (May 31st) it is on course to financially break even, as planned.
Operating with no debt, the Club is realising its football and commercial opportunities whilst continuing unprecedented investments in both youth development and the local community
From the outset, the Club has engaged with UEFA in its introduction of the Financial Fair Play Regulations in good faith and without prejudice and in a transparent and collaborative manner. The Club’s position is that it is beholden upon UEFA and the European football establishment to ensure the same.
The Club can confirm that it has been in discussions with UEFA over the last month - in relation to the application of Financial Fair Play regulations - as has been widely reported and communicated by UEFA. At the heart of those discussions is a fundamental disagreement between the Club’s and UEFA’s respective interpretations of the FFP regulations on players purchased before 2010. The Club believes it has complied with the FFP regulations on this and all other matters.
In normal circumstances, the Club would wish to pursue its case and present its position through every avenue of recourse. However, our decision to do so must be balanced against the practical realities for our fans, for our partners and in the interests of the commercial operations of the Club.
As a result of these considerations and the fact that the Club is now break even in in its operations, the Club has decided to enter into a compromise agreement with UEFA with the following practical outcomes:
- MCFC will lose 10m Euros of its share of income from UEFA for competing in the Champions League completion in season 2013-14.
- MCFC will lose 10m Euros of its share of income from UEFA for competing in the Champions League for season 2014-15
- Rather than having an accumulative allowance of 30m Euros of losses over the next two reporting years (like all other clubs), MCFC will have specific stipulated allowances for 2013-14 and 2014-15 of 20m Euros and 10m Euros respectively. Significantly, MCFC plans to be profitable in 2014-15 and in the years that follow.
- The MCFC Champions League squad for the 2014-15 competition will be limited to 21 players. In 2013-14 the club registered 23 players for the competition and used 21.
- The Club’s expenditure on new players for the upcoming summer transfer window, on top of income from players it might sell, will be limited to 60m euros. This will have no material impact on the Club’s planned transfer activity.
- The wage bill of the whole club (playing and non-playing staff) for 2014-15 will need to remain at the same level as that of 2013-14 season. It is important to note that additional bonuses for performances can be paid outside this number. Importantly, in reality, the existing MCFC business plan sees a natural decline in that wage bill.
- Given the unique nature of the new City Football Group structure – which incorporates MCFC, New York City, Melbourne Heart and a number of other companies, the Club has agreed to certain non-material terms in order to make FFP reporting as easy as possible for UEFA to discern.
The nature of conditions that will result in the lifting of sanctions means that the Club expects to be operating without sanction or restriction at the commencement of the 2015-16 season.
Importantly all non-financial sanctions agreed to would have been complied with as a natural course of the Club’s planned business operations.

Basically, UEFA excluded the revenue from selling IP rights to the City Football Group (about £25m) which meant that we failed FFP by about £15m and couldn't remove the wages from pre June 2010 contracts (about £80m) leaving a total failure of £95m. The Etihad deal is fine as is the sale of IP to an unknown party.
At first glance the fine of €40m is extortionate but we should get over half of it it back if we pass FFP next season which we will.
The squad limitation isn't that bad as we only used a squad of 21 for the last two seasons anyway.
We are limited to the current wage bill - but that probably includes the money from Mancinis sacking so that isn't too bad and doesn't include bonus payments for winning stuff.
Then we are also are limited to spending €60m Euros in the transfer market (excluding sales) this summer - but I'm not sure we were spending much more than that anyway.

At the end of the day the club are being pragmatic. The €20m fine that we will pay is actually an entry fee into the Champions League Cartel.

 

[RandomJ]

Re: City & FFP (continued)

I'm very disappointed City have just decided to bend over and take it. I don't think there would have been many fans out there who would have complained had we decided to take the cunts to court. But now the club has validated FFP and pretty much allowed them to continue to take the piss next season as well. Now we can't strengthen our squad to the level we would have liked so risk being in exactly the same situation we were when we last won the title where we didn't strengthen the squad enough and got left behind.

Easy to say fight UEFA. Think of the implications in terms of the clubs image and the players ambitions of playing in Europe.

Well you could just say to those same players that if we accept the sanctions we are effectively going to the CL with the odds stacked against us. We are now like a boxer going into a title fight with one of our arms tied behind our backs. We now can't sign the world class players other teams can because they are too expensive and we only have a 21 man squad 8 of which need to be home grown. Anyone claiming this as a victory for the club need to take their blue tinted specs off and see we have been well and truly shafted and the club has just rolled over and taken it.

 

[BringBackSwales]

Re: City & FFP (continued)

One thing that does not seem to be getting commented upon is the part of our statement which says that the wage freeze does not include performance related bonuses - I have a feeling that if needed we can turn a larger element of pay from base salary to performance bonuses. I think this is one of many get outs which the club have shrewdly negotiated

 

[maurizio]

Re: City & FFP (continued)

So no need to worry about debt, dodgy government subsidies, owners fleecing the club, ridiculously high prices for fans.. We are the bad guys, the cheats, for having our owner put too much investment into the club. Truly FFP has been tailored to try and stop us. It won't succeed.

 

[welsh_andy]

Re: City & FFP (continued)

Does this mean the pies will go up???

nah will just use horsemeat instead

 

[BringBackSwales]

Re: City & FFP (continued)

Now that uefa have done this to us, can we tell twatini to fuck off and not give him and his hangers on my seat and loads around it in EL2 for the CL games?

 

[jrb]

Re: City & FFP (continued)

Thanks to Fergie and Moyes, United will lose more money, than our fines, for not playing in next seasons CL. :-?

 

[Tim of the Oak]

Re: City & FFP (continued)

The cartel can appeal this mate.

UEFA fine clubs £50k for vicious racism. They have fined us up to £50m (£16m best case scenario) for differences of opinion over accounting methods. Well and truly shafted!!

Of course we can continue to grow but be in no doubt we have been well and truly mugged off.

Agree with this. City owners need to wise up now - We need the best 'spin doctor' money can buy for a start to compete in the media circus and then sue the sh*t out of our accountants who have presumably been paid millions whilst telling our owners all the time that we were on course to pass FFP when they knew all along that we were skating on very thin ice with some of the creative accounting!! .....

Our accountants do this under accounting standards there will be absolutely no reason or any justification to sue them . It is also in our interests that the punishment look harsh then it's hard to appeal and everyone can be self satisfied whilst we go on business as usual

The official Club statement says our accounting approaches to FFP were being checked with UEFA. If our accountants said they would do this and failed to adequately do so then we have good grounds to sue them. The central issue seems to be about players wages on contracts signed a few years ago (and I doubt there is an exact prescription in accounting standards for this).

 

[Blue Hefner]

Re: City & FFP (continued)

Have any of the other teams been named and punishments explained?