PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

[halfcenturyup]

Individual boot deals with say Nike are separate in that they are between the players and the sponsor and have an agreed value.

Image rights are in effect an agreement between the club who agree to pay a sum ( it used to be a set % but it’s now a quantified and independently validated number on a player by player basis) of a player’s overall pay in effect by way of compensation allowing the club to use the players image for instance in club commercial activities.

The principal of these payments are completely legit .

HMRC wanted to stop them in the day ( or Inland Revenue as it was then )but the lost a trial case against Arsenal and certain players but football being football the clubs, the player, the agents pushed it too far and the % of players wages that clubs were paying into companies was stupid some times 90% hence why The FA became involved and they and HMRC agreed a framework which remains in place to this day but….

When a player signs a contract all the financial details have to be listed on the contract and that is lodged with the PL and the FA and that includes the image rights payment

The rules in this country are clear that all of player’s remuneration per the contract have to be be made by the club.

It gets even more complex and something that’s a live topic in that HMRC are actively looking at payments in respect of image rights.They, HMRC , have no issue if they are paid in line with the terms of that Arsenal ruling because that tribunal gave the green light because these payments were paid into UK based companies who in turn will pay CT , if appropriate VAT , etc

The problem now is that if the payment goes to an off shore company, which many players have set up then it’s deemed by HMRC to be tax evasion. Most if not all PL and indeed Championship clubs are or were under investigation. My club , Chelsea, it seems have settled with HMRC the issue was disclosed during Bohleys due diligence and a vast sum ( tens of millions) was diverted from the sale proceeds to clear this matter up.

Isn't tax evasion a criminal offence?

 

[Blumooniac]

Manufactured posh bloke, likes others to think he's intelligent, but actually has a very poor history in football finance. I genuinely don't know why anyone listens to him let alone pays any attention to him.

He reminds me of Stanley Unwin, just not as funny or intelligent.

 

[PistonBlue]

He reminds me of Stanley Unwin, just not as funny or intelligent.

SU was great, and weirdly enough I've been listening to the Small Faces a lot recently.

 

[Blumooniac]

SU was great, and weirdly enough I've been listening to the Small Faces a lot recently.

Quintessential English eccentric.

 

[Prophet of Doom]

You don't think City have already been offered that plea bargain?

We have accused them of grand scale phishing, which is why we continue to assert the narrative "clear and obvious"

We brokered a pinch with Platini and Uefa, because we didn't want to harm the business at that time.

These Premier League accusations/charges threaten the very existence of the Club and are so much more serious, possibly threaten jail time for some individuals.

We have spent four years playing legal footsie when all we had to do was take another pinch?

The Premier League wanted to keep this all in-house and yet we preferred to have our day before an independent panel.

That should tell us this isn't a zero sum game, the Club want to clear our name once and for all.

I have to trust you don't gamble a £4bn asset on the premise we bet it all on black.

Literally nothing has changed, as far as I’m aware. The club remain confident they’ll be cleared of the most serious charges, so that’ll do for me. Some people are convinced it’ll be a stitch-up, but I’d like to believe the panel will be impartial. Little point in stressing about hypotheticals at this stage, especially as this is still likely to run for some time.

Exactly !!! Nothing has changed except every week we get stuff posted on here like ‘we have a secret VAR recording’ or ‘95% is off the table’.

What do people expect City to say ? Of course we are going to announce publicly and via chosen outlets that we are very confident. We are hardly going to say we are bang to rights and completely fucked.

The Premier League pushed ahead with charges cause they took advice that there is a very serious case to be heard. Their credibility is on the line.

There is a huge risk with this to City no matter how strong our evidence is.

People should be careful not to get carried away. Everybody was giddy about a secret VAR recording a couple of weeks ago - never to be heard of again.

There are some fantastic legal experts on this thread dissecting the charges and potential risks - they are the people to listen to.

 

[terraloon]

Isn't tax evasion a criminal offence?

That depends if HMRC go to the courts.

HMRC will be looking for voluntary disclosure if that’s not achieved they will almost certainly through investigation try and negotiate a settlement. Yes it’s possible that criminal proceedings can be a route but unlikely in respect of this type of issue

 

[TheKippaxM14Blue]

Isn't tax evasion a criminal offence?

Probably more Tax avoidance

 

[Centurions]

The entire system was accessed, so that wouldn’t add up.

You're confusing two separate incidents which may explain some of your posts ;)

They accessed the Scout7(?) database through someones log in details. Rui Pinto hacked our email servers, most probably by someone not paying attention and clicking on a link they shouldn't have.

 

[terraloon]

You don't think City have already been offered that plea bargain?

We have accused them of grand scale phishing, which is why we continue to assert the narrative "clear and obvious"

We brokered a pinch with Platini and Uefa, because we didn't want to harm the business at that time.

These Premier League accusations/charges threaten the very existence of the Club and are so much more serious, possibly threaten jail time for some individuals.

We have spent four years playing legal footsie when all we had to do was take another pinch?

The Premier League wanted to keep this all in-house and yet we preferred to have our day before an independent panel.

That should tell us this isn't a zero sum game, the Club want to clear our name once and for all.

I have to trust you don't gamble a £4bn asset on the premise we bet it all on black.

I very very much doubt that any sort of plea bargaining has taken place that’s just not how it works.

Had City in effect made a voluntary disclosure saying something like ” We have uncovered all these issues . Sorry “ then it would or could have been dealt with behind closed doors but that’s not what has happened.The PL as far as I can see have been completely open about an investigation taking place the court ruling was more about the reason for and outcome of arbitration which they and City wanted to keep out of the public domain

I think you are being over dramatic when you talk about jail time simply because despite from a PL rule book compliance standpoint I can’t see that any of the charges are suggesting that City have broken any Laws.

 

[BAB.DAB]

Exactly !!! Nothing has changed except every week we get stuff posted on here like ‘we have a secret VAR recording’ or ‘95% is off the table’.

What do people expect City to say ? Of course we are going to announce publicly and via chosen outlets that we are very confident. We are hardly going to say we are bang to rights and completely fucked.

The Premier League pushed ahead with charges cause they took advice that there is a very serious case to be heard. Their credibility is on the line.

There is a huge risk with this to City no matter how strong our evidence is.

People should be careful not to get carried away. Everybody was giddy about a secret VAR recording a couple of weeks ago - never to be heard of again.

There are some fantastic legal experts on this thread dissecting the charges and potential risks - they are the people to listen to.

Fantastic legal experts, who don't have the case files. So can only speculatile the possible outcome.
Like the Premier league, the club has been working on this for 4 years.
It does seem that anyone who posts on here, with good links to club, you don't value their opinion.