The use of the word "charges" is misleading because this is not a criminal case. We are a member of an organisation which claims we broke their rules and that's it. The press coverage uses phrases like "charged with 115 offences" and "if City are fund guilty" as if this case is happening in a Criminal Court. This coverage is designed to undermine City and damage our reputation.Have the PL given us details yet? They are supposed to disclose exactly what we are charged with and the evidence therefor.
Correct but there is no single word available that correctly describes the accusation of breaking of regs. All on here know what I mean.The use of the word "charges" is misleading because this is not a criminal case. We are a member of an organisation which claims we broke their rules and that's it. The press coverage uses phrases like "charged with 115 offences" and "if City are fund guilty" as if this case is happening in a Criminal Court. This coverage is designed to undermine City and damage our reputation.
We are effectively accused of fraud by uttering false accounts.Have we broken any law or broken an agreement in the Premier League contract ?
Precisely the conclusion at CAS….AND…I am still at a loss with this though. IF what they are accusing us of is true then we have committed some very serious offences, fraud being just one, and not minor fraud either. Our accountants would have to be complicit and all those ramifications. IF these are true then why aren’t HMRC and police involved and dawn raids on the Etihad?? A mystery.
Forget any idea of any criminal sanctions even if they do manage to stitch us up. I've been involved in fraud investigation and litigation, civil and criminal, on behalf of government for 40 years and there's not a prosecuting authority that would touch this with a barge-pole.
If we win the PL will have a lot of questions to answer (and a lot of redshirts on their back) which worries me.Does anyone think the PL can survive this? Or is an independent regulator on the horizon?
I hope your faith in their ability to withstand redshirt pressure is justified.I don't think we need to worry about "a kangaroo court". The commission has to be independent and I have every reason to believe that the professional integrity of its members will far outweigh any other consideration. If it does not and the commission delivers a perverse judgement City will then have a right of appeal. This would also be the case in the event of a disproportionate punishment. But City's plea is not one for leniency but that the charges are baseless and there is no case to answer.
I like your personal summary. It will do for me until the actual facts emerge and we are cleared of any wrongdoingI think we are all thrashing around in the dark at the moment. We don't know what the precise charges are though the club and its legal team do, one presumes. Thanks to the corrected version of the "rap sheet" Colin, Stefan and others have been able to give us a pretty clear idea of what they are, and they are serious to say the least. There does appear to be considerable overlap with the charges brought by UEFA but this time there is apparently no time barring. On the other hand, contrary to popular belief City were not cleared by CAS "on a technicality" but because there was no evidence at all produced which showed we had committed any of the "offences" alleged. It is hard to see what evidence the PL has which can substantiate the PL claims, especially when considered in the light of our audited accounts and testimony before CAS.
This is my personal summary of the "state of play" at the moment. I should be grateful if bluemooners could correct or fill out my version.
Have the PL given us details yet? They are supposed to disclose exactly what we are charged with and the evidence therefor.
Correct but there is no single word available that correctly describes the accusation of breaking of regs. All on here know what I mean.
“Accusation of rule Infraction” is closest.