The PL quite literally have accused the club of fraud. What you say as ‘darent say the word’ actually = charged as written in the competition rules.
You can’t say with a straight face that charging with failing to file correct and up to date financial statements and failing to declare correct compensation figures for 9 years is anything but a direct accusation of fraud.
My suspicion all along has been that the PL ‘must’ believe they have something over and above what was argued at CAS as I struggle to believe that Adam Lewis would have advised the PL to move forward simply to rehash the same brief, albeit I concede that as those more knowledgable than me have said, ego can ultimately play an important role too.
Firstly we've not been "charged", it's not a legal process. We've been accused of FFP/PSR rule breaches.
The PL have apparently been investigating us since 2018, & I suspect they were hoping the accusations would just fizzle out & be forgotten.
It's quite evident that the pressure to go after us was coming from the Red Top Mafia & Spuds, & that it was the Government's IREF announcement which spurred the PL into moving from the investigation stage to accusations & tribunal hearings.
You have your suspicions which you're entitled to, but the facts are the hearing & process are being done in private, so we're all essentially trying to connect the dots to form a picture, so in this respect everyone has their own opinion on what is actually happening.
In terms of fraud, I suspect if the PL use the term, they'll lose control of the process, as it will move from their kangaroo court onto a legal footing.
As such, neither HMRC, the SFO or the police are exactly beating a path to our door. Far from it. According to our audited & verified accounts, everything all is deemed up front & above board.
Even more curious, if anything the PL are accusing City of using our legally acquired funds to pay for sponsorship, to boost our ledger income, meaning we pay far more tax than we otherwise could have.
When has anyone ever heard of HMRC complaining of receiving too much tax revenue from legal sources?
Nah, there's a far more simple explanation. The PL & UEFA created FFP/PSR to stop City from the boardroom, because they've failed to stop our progress on the field of play.
Where they've royally fucked up is the very rules meant to nobble City, are nobbling everyone else as an unitended consequence of their determination to neuter us.
We crossed the drawbridge just in time before the portcullis was slammed shut. We're now seen as the cuckoo in their nest & they desperately want us gone, but it's too late.
Whatever rules they've created to stop us, will also affect everyone else, so they've essentially snookered themselves.
Like I said, what they've accused us of adds up to accounting fraud, so the question is, why have neither UEFA or the PL ever levelled the fraud term toward us?
Again it's about opinions, but in my opinion this is the key to the whole farce. In 2014, there was a comment from a City finance officer suggesting it was like UEFA were accusing us of fraud.
UEFA never responded to that comment & ten years later, the PL have declined to do so too. I'd love them to try, but it's obvious they won't, because the moment they do, the authorities will become involved & the PL's primacy in this matter will be superceded by the state.
So again the question must be asked, with all the innuendo of fraud & other accusations etc from the PL & UEFA, why have the state never been in touch with City regarding these allegations to our knowledge?
Could it be that there's a world of difference between breaching the rules of a private members club, & committing a criminal act as defined by the actual law of the land?