Perfect, thanks. That confirms everything I've read from respected sources. So to me the fundamental question is whether the league has more evidence than UEFA did or whether they're just having a slightly mad punt in the hope they get full access to something or something sticks?
Edit: or that they're having to go big on the first charge in order to open up time barred elements where they think there are bigger smoking guns with Mancini and Yaya?? Which seems pretty bold? But then again it all seems quite bold. I can see why Stefan and other people who know what they're talking about were so flabbergasted. I don't think rival fans and the Talksport crew have fully appreciated this yet?
The issue is the hacked emails allude to owner funded sponsorships & certain club costs being farmed out to a third party so they don't appear on our ledgers.
UEFA & The PL are asking for access to all our communications so they can investigate, but City are saying, if you believe we've done something wrong, outline the accusation & tell us exactly what piece of info you require.
UEFA & the PL don't know exactly what it is they're looking for, so City have correctly said "Well you know where to find us when you've got your shit together".
We've NOT refused to cooperate as such, we've seemingly refused to hand over every bit of club paperwork which may or may not be relevant to these accusations.
One major & obvious reason why, is City would be handing over strategic documentation of how we run our club outside of the scope of FFP, which would provide crucial insider info of our club operations to our direct competitors who are also our accusers, & are acting as judge, jury & executioner in the action against us.
Even if we handed over everything & no guilt was found, these same accusers would benefit from knowing exactly how we do what we do, so they can copy us or try to lob a stick into our spokes to stop us. It's corporate espionage, with us committing the espionage against ourselves.
This is why City favour an independent regulator. A body who'll look at all the evidence from a legal standpoint, but who don't have a personal axe to grind with us, & who won't be using our operational strategies to gain a playing advantage over City & to interrupt our normal business flow.
It's a mess! IMHO, the fairest way forward is to stop looking at football as a private members club & look at it as the national sporting institution it is & regulate it properly & independently.
The opposition detest & don't trust us, & we evidently feel the same about them. Why should we be happy with these same people sitting in judgement of us, with no arbitrary body monitoring them to ensure the processes are legal & fair?
It stinks!
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