PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

[wolviedinho]

Seems to be pestering out in the news lately. Less and less City investigation news. No Premier League updates. Expecting the worst.

That’s because it’s all bullshit. No concrete evidence so nothing to investigate.

If anything, less noise would suggest City are doing the business behind the scenes.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

I'm 50 pages behind so someone might have answered this.

If not:

The relationship between City and the PL is essentially contractual. The regulations that govern our participation within that league are the terms of the contract. One of those terms is that in the event of an alleged breach of the rules the matter is referred to an independent panel, from which an appeal lies to a further panel.

We are said to be in breach of those terms. The fact that the terms themselves do not contain a limitation clause makes no difference, because the Limitation Act says that if you are alleging a breach of contract you must do it within six years.

So, there is a limitation period, and it is six years.

However.

The limitation act also says that if you are bringing a claim based on the fraud of the other party the limitation period does not start to run until you had knowledge of the fraud. So the six year period begins not with the date of the breaches, but the date those breaches became known to the PL - IF they were breaches brought about by fraud.

This means that the allegation of fraud is relevant in two ways. First, given that our accounts have been passed by an auditor, the PL have to allege fraud in order to make their case stick. Secondly, if they can't establish fraud, the limitation act means anything before February 2017 is time-barred.

They have charged us with something extremely serious. The consequences for City if the case succeeds are potentially devastating. The consequences for the PL if the charges fail is also potentially devastating.

I hope I'm not being excessively hubristic here but my view is that the charges, while potentially serious in theory, are actually thin.

The image rights stuff (which was the one I was originally most concerned about) was being discussed with us, by UEFA, in 2015. I can't imagine it wasn't also known to the PL therefore, who were the FFP licensor. If UEFA felt we were trying to defraud them (in the criminal sense) then they'd have charged us back in 2018. They didn't though.

With Mancini's contract, that was around 1% of our 2010-11 revenue and about 0.75% of our 2012 revenue. It's hardly Enron levels.

CAS has already ruled that our Etihad sponsorship (a) was broadly fair value and (b) not funded by ADUG, but by the Abu Dhabi government. So I can't see them having much luck with Aabar, that might have been one of the time-barred sponsorships. And Etisalat, the other, had already been discussed with UEFA, according to the CAS output.

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

Seems to be pestering out in the news lately. Less and less City investigation news. No Premier League updates. Expecting the worst.

I have the same impression. Totally toned down in just a few days (Except on twitter and forums etc).

 

[Protein Junkie]

Last few days I have seen hundreds of baseless comments on Social Media.
Plenty of knuckle scrapers who cannot establish the difference between charges and evidence.
I replied to some but I would need King Canute to help me out.
Then it dawned me just to sit back watch the fuckers eat themselves from within with their pure jealousy towards a club who have rendered the cartel to the level of an ashtray on a motorbike.

 

[Centurions]

Last few days I have seen hundreds of baseless comments on Social Media.
Plenty of knuckle scrapers who cannot establish the difference between charges and evidence.
I replied to some but I would need King Canute to help me out.
Then it dawned me just to sit back watch the fuckers eat themselves from within with their pure jealousy towards a club who have rendered the cartel to the level of an ashtray on a motorbike.

Yep, life's short, don't waste one second of it on morons.

 

[slbsn]

Good man & thanks again for helping us laymen understand what’s occurring :)

Now reads: "That was eventually overturned by the court of arbitration in sport (CAS) due to the failure of UEFA to establish such serious allegations with some matters being deemed to be outside UEFA's time barring period."

 

[Shads]

They have already got the verdict they want and that is guilty as charges in the public eye and arena again.

All about reputational damage, a hope players walk, a hope Pep walks, a hope it puts signings off and a hope sponsors walk.

The more I think about this the more I think it’s a sham suite of charges with little to no merit whatsoever but they know it will never get to a stage where the charges are picked apart.

Certainly can’t rule that out…

 

[slbsn]

I hope I'm not being excessively hubristic here but my view is that the charges, while potentially serious in theory, are actually thin.

The image rights stuff (which was the one I was originally most concerned about) was being discussed with us, by UEFA, in 2015. I can't imagine it wasn't also known to the PL therefore, who were the FFP licensor. If UEFA felt we were trying to defraud them (in the criminal sense) then they'd have charged us back in 2018. They didn't though.

With Mancini's contract, that was around 1% of our 2010-11 revenue and about 0.75% of our 2012 revenue. It's hardly Enron levels.

CAS has already ruled that our Etihad sponsorship (a) was broadly fair value and (b) not funded by ADUG, but by the Abu Dhabi government. So I can't see them having much luck with Aabar, that might have been one of the time-barred sponsorships. And Etisalat, the other, had already been discussed with UEFA, according to the CAS output.

You've answered your own questions. The core of the charges are obviously about Etihad, Etisalat etc for the reasons you say re image rights/Toure/Mancini. Thats why the dates in charges 1 are what they are. I've said I don't see how they will be able to prove such charges but those are almost certainly the matters to which they relate.

 

[Kazzydeyna]

Last few days I have seen hundreds of baseless comments on Social Media.
Plenty of knuckle scrapers who cannot establish the difference between charges and evidence.
I replied to some but I would need King Canute to help me out.
Then it dawned me just to sit back watch the fuckers eat themselves from within with their pure jealousy towards a club who have rendered the cartel to the level of an ashtray on a motorbike.

I’ve not been on Twitter since about an hour after the news broke last monday.

I’m patiently waiting the day when we are exonerated, vindicated, and proven to be compliant with all rules.

Payback will be a woman. I literally cannot wait.

“Champions of England, we’re still singing that”

 

[Maly]

Now reads: "That was eventually overturned by the court of arbitration in sport (CAS) due to the failure of UEFA to establish such serious allegations with some matters being deemed to be outside UEFA's time barring period."

Nice one :)