Football Leaks/Der Spiegel articles

[laserblue]

Der Spiegel is just the mouthpiece of Bayern, a club of unblemished integrity whose president was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in jail for tax evasion and whose chairman was fined 250,000 Euros for smuggling watches.

 

[M18CTID]

when do York away tickets go on sale?

Saturday morning. You have to apply in person at the ticket office. I'm getting there for about 3am.

 

[CityStu]

Genuine question.

I consider it unlikely that this will be re-visited by UEFA, in fact, unless I'm reading it wrong, in a post from Ric a few pages back, this period has been signed off and cannot be re-visited.

But, if new evidence comes to light, these inflated sponsorships, disguised owner investment etc, and they were not considered at the time, would this not be an in for this to be opened up again?

I accept we failed FFP, as you say....


But does that really matter?

I might have done something wrong a few years back and been punished, if subsequently I'm found to have committed an additional offence not considered at the time, it's not ignored, I'm taken to account.

Or is none of this new? UEFA looked at our sponsorship deals at the time and saw nothing untoward, is there anything new here that gives them the green light to take another look?

I don't think so. All this does really is confirm that some of City's sponsorship comes from related parties. Related party sponsorship is allowed under FFP as long as it is comparable to the market level. UEFA studied that at the time and determined City's related party sponsorship was not above market level (in the same way that PSG's was).

It's none of UEFA's business how City's sponsors are funded, beyond the related party definition. Nor can they prove it.

 

[Marvin]

The Sheikh DIDN'T give money to Etihad for this sponsorship. The Emir did! Please understand the difference between the terms "His Highness" and "His Highness Sheikh Mansour" or "H.H. Sheikh Mansour" as used in the leaked emails.

BlueAnorak. I am confused. Are you saying that the Der Spiegel info says that the monies came from the Emir and not Sheikh Mansour?

I was taking the British press reports of SHeikh Mansour funding the Etihad deal at face value. Are you saying that the evidence they have suggests it was the Emir and not Sheikh Mansour who paid the Sponsor monies?

 

[Ajm1985]

The leaks are bad PR but I can't really see how they can be argued in any court (real or kangaroo). FFP was changed yet again to suit the old order, allowing further owner investment. That is an acknowledgement of FFP being poorly thought out and unfit for purpose. Sheikh Mansour using his funds, whether surreptitious or not, would ostensibly comply with current FFP.

 

[The perfect fumble]

Der Spiegel is just the mouthpiece of Bayern, a club of unblemished integrity whose president was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in jail for tax evasion and whose chairman was fined 250,000 Euros for smuggling watches.

Wait until they get to Brian Kidd's (Don Kiddo) drug cartel.

 

[Metalartin]

I agree. £67.5 for sponsorship of the City shirt and stadium is small fry. That's not really the issue here though. It's whether SM's hand on the money (allegedly) changes the nature of the relationship between Etihad and City. I don't think it does but other people in football will see this as City financing ourselves. Well yes. Sports Direct, KIng Power, New Balance. They all do it. The question is can those deals be justified and I think UEFA already passed the Etihad deal. Would they have still passed it if the money trail went through SM? I think so, I don't see how that aspect is relevant.

Yes that is the legal concern, for the funnelling of funds in theory it shouldn't really matter if it's not above fair value, which it is isn't.

As I said before though since City are technically owned by ADUG it would be a mistake using them to do this "funnelling", on things like the Aabar deal as that would be a related party. Sheikh Mansour also owns IPIC which have assets in the billions to do this if need be, which as I understand it would not be classed as a related party. Again not claiming to be some financial expert just looking at it logically, on the basis that if there was a safer way to do it they'd be using that way.

 

[George Hannah]

My considered reply to the Germans

Sent: 06 November 2018 09:59
To: Winterbach, Christoph
Cc: rafael.buschmann@spiegel.de
Subject: RE: Football Leaks: Manchester City ExposeJed Bending The Rules etc

Hello again Christoph,

Thanks for your prompt email, it was much appreciated.

I shared my question together with your reply on two independent Manchester City forums. In case you haven’t already seen them these are the two threads concerned.

Man City Fans.net & Bluemoon

You are no doubt already familiar with the sort of reaction generated by your revelations on those message boards.
It is nonetheless important for you to recognise that the sincerity and genuine outrage expressed is fully justified.
I think the general view about your organized attempt to damage the reputation of our club was well summarised yesterday by Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail and Gabriel Marcotti in The Times .

As a City supporter for 60+ years I would just add that scapegoating ‘Oil Money’ and the ‘Nouveau Riche’ for the decline of the Bundesliga is chillingly reminiscent of evil crimes your nation would like us all to forget and forgive. It is also a matter of great regret that you are still able to find collaborators in the ranks of the British press. They’ve got form too.

The deterioration in the standard of German football, and indeed in Italy, France and elsewhere, is in fact directly attributable to the malign influence on UEFA of the cartel of the G14 clubs and specifically in your case, Bayern Munich.

It is my earnest hope that my club will take robust legal action against these slurs and allegations which are based solely on unlawfully obtained and highly suspect information. In reality, they are merely a soundtrack to the pathetic death throes of a shameless and corrupt group of entitled clubs.

Best Wishes,

Johnny Crossan


Sent from Mail for Windows 10

 

[manimanc]

Der Spiegel is just the mouthpiece of Bayern, a club of unblemished integrity whose president was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in jail for tax evasion and whose chairman was fined 250,000 Euros for smuggling watches.

And whose ex manager is at city doing a grand job whilst the current manager at bayern is making a dog's dinner of the job in hand?
Hmm i smell sour grapes.

 

[Marvin]

I don't think so. All this does really is confirm that some of City's sponsorship comes from related parties. Related party sponsorship is allowed under FFP as long as it is comparable to the market level. UEFA studied that at the time and determined City's related party sponsorship was not above market level (in the same way that PSG's was).

It's none of UEFA's business how City's sponsors are funded, beyond the related party definition. Nor can they prove it.

Yes. That's my angle on it too. Even if self-funded we are hardly alone in doing so. See Everton (training ground), Sports Direct, New Balance, King Power. The list is a long one. I remember seeing the directors business names slapped all over Maine Rd stands