PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

[blueju]

Whataboutery aint the best defence

Not whataboutery, if we’re guilty then we’re guilty. Every other club should be looked at in the same manner.

 

[Tricky_Trev]

I’d imagine it’s numbskulls twisting this story

Even if this never happened, it’s kind of expected that Pep will move on in a few years when his contract is up. And this battle with the PL is set to take longer than that. A nothing story really.

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

So, the new Manchester United-supporting CEO started last month and almost immediately we have this news. I wonder if that's a coincidence? Or did United and Liverpool have a chance to vet her, as was alleged in the media with regard to at least one previous appointee? And, if so, did the City investigation feature in those discussions?

It seems clear to me that by making the number of allegations the PL has, which cover matters going back to Mancini's contract in 2009, there's a clear aim to throw as much as they can at us in the hope that some will stick. But they've argued that we've filed dishonest accounts for nearly a decade. That's an incendiary allegation and they can't expect MCFC to do anything other than fight it with all the force we can muster.

I don't have any experience of prosecutions of directors for false accounting, but I'm led to believe that it's not conceivable that City's directors would be prosecuted for that offence in these circumstances. Nonetheless, the allegations, if true, presuppose that those directors committed actions that are in some circumstances viewed as a serious criminal matter punishable by several years' imprisonment. I can't see Khaldoon, for instance, taking that lying down.

One key thing to point out, as we did ahead of CAS, is that the reporting of this case fails to acknowledge that it's possible to work within rules to circumvent them. Instead, it's seems enough for our friends in the press that we've probably been in breach of the "spirit of the rules". But this is a bullshit concept that counts for sweet fuck all in the real world.

If UEFA or the PL want their rules to ban some kinds of sponsorship, the onus is on them to draft legal provisions which expressly say so. Otherwise, we're entitled to find whatever workarounds the applicable text of the rules allows. (To be fair, The PL have changed rules down the years to try and close what they see as loopholes).

As a defendant, what you have a right to expect when matters as serious as this are in issue is that there'll be a full and thorough examination by the panel empowered to hear the case. That could take months, if not years. Yet I see that the media this morning are suggesting that clubs want a quick resolution, with a punishment in place that applies to this season. If so, those clubs prove that they couldn't give a toss about due process.

I'm bound to say that, IF we end up being proved guilty of having falsified our accounts over many years, then one would have to say that we'd deserve a punishment of unprecedented force. But that's an extremely difficult thing for the PL to prove. We deny the charges, I believe (from my admittedly biased viewpoint) and, under any concept of due process, we're entitled to have our case heard properly before that assessment is definitively handed down.

The reaction of opposing fans, the press briefings of rival club, and the media glee at what's happened tells you that no one in this constituencies is the slightest but interested in fairness. At the moment, I'm bullish and look forward to the club approaching its defence of its position in the most forceful terms. Let's see how things look when we've done so.

In the meantime, we need to create a real siege mentality. Sometimes when one urges this, people accuse you of being paranoid. Well, in this situation, we know they really are out to try, at all costs, to damage our club irretrievably. Let's all - fans, management, players, directors, other club officials - pull together and really fucking stick it to our detractors.

Not only that, the only one of the ‘top 6’ to actually support an independent regulator is the one that has been ambushed in an attempt to prove they don’t need one. I’d imagine the PL suits might look a bit different next year given this is how they have treated one of their shareholders. No notice, no joint statement, just sideswiped. I’m not one for conspiracy theories but the timing and the presentation of this stinks…

 

[bluebanana83]

I mentioned transfer pricing about a decade ago, when you sell something from a subsuduary to another at a low vlaue to avoid tax in a certain teritory where it may be higher, which is illegal. I said City may do a similar thing with player to avoid FFP.

Mooy is the obvious example. Melbourne pay a few million, transfer to Manchester City for zero, doesn't play but sold for £10m. That is bound to wind other teams up. We made about £10m that year net profit overall.

Yea but we loaned him to Huddersfield and they got promoted and he was the standout player in the Championship so when we sold him for a profit it was justified.

When we bought him he’d not proved himself at a higher level. With Daniel Arzani it didn’t work out. He got injured and we made a loss on what we paid Melbourne City for him.

 

[Tricky_Trev]

The other clubs don't have a smoking gun set of stolen emails, sadly.

We need to invest in hackers of our own.

 

[Plain Speaking]

Unfortunately I cannot get around the fact the PL didn't have to actually start this action. The club has effectively been accused of deliberate false accounting for a period of 9 years. A whistle blower like Gary Cook, (or another disgruntled former employee), could put the club in a very tricky situation.

The PL must feel we won't be able to defend the evidence. Unlike the UEFA charges, illegally obtained evidence will be admissible, like the hacked emails, and there will be no time bar on any action, plus the burden of proof will be less than in a criminal case.

I find it hard to believe an Arsenal season ticket holder will be chair of an 'independent' commission!!!

Personally I am not optimistic and am psychology preparing myself for relegation and hoping we'll be able to bounce back like Saracens did in the rugby top division!

 

[mexico1970]

Exactly! Even without City being found guilty of any major FFP wrongdoing, it's still job done for UEFA/G14 & The Premiere League's Hateful Eight.

Shit sticks, & City will be indelibly stained if we continue to allow the unfair fundamentals of FFP to go unchallenged.

If they don't prove anything substantial and or City manage to implicate the big clubs by squealing in the box then the PL have irreparably damaged their cash cow.

Enter stage left the hero of the day the ESL with shiny new rules ad fancy new terminology bringing outdated English football into the 21st century.

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

Not whataboutery, if we’re guilty then we’re guilty. Every other club should be looked at in the same manner.

EVERY single PL club should be placed under the exact same scrutiny as we are.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Unfortunately I cannot get around the fact the PL didn't have to actually start this action. The club has effectively been accused of deliberate false accounting for a period of 9 years. A whistle blower like Gary Cook, (or another disgruntled former employee), could put the club in a very tricky situation.

The PL must feel we won't be able to defend the evidence. Unlike the UEFA charges, illegally obtained evidence will be admissible, like the hacked emails, and there will be no time bar on any action, plus the burden of proof will be less than in a criminal case.

Personally I am not optimistic and am psychology preparing myself for relegation and hoping we'll be able to bounce back like Saracens did in the rugby top division!

Back in line Corporal.

 

[cheekybids]

Was listening to Kieran Maguire on the radio last night, and he said that City's legal team have rejected every request for information related to these charges. This has been going on for 4 years. Yesterday's announcement seems to be out of pure exasperation, and has to be related to the governments white paper and cracking down on the PL, because they cannot regulate themselves. The fact that they are still talking about breaches that date back to 2009, proves that they are incompetent, because if they knew about this in 2018, why has it taken 4 years to mention it.

This scenario is like the Police banning someone from driving, because they refused to give a breath test. The independent adjudicator is pivotal in all of this, but the legal team have to really pull out all the stops now. They may own up to all the lesser charges but fight tooth and nail against the big ones.

One thing that does give me cause for concern is the faux sponsorship deals that were discovered in the summer. This was a real open goal, especially considering the club were in the midst of an investigation for financial irregularities. If a student from Norway can unearth bogus betting sponsors, then anyone else can, especially if you do that for a living. And recently announcing that City bring in more commercial revenue than Real Madrid and Barcelona. It's almost taunting them to investigate those revenue streams.

Who told Kieren Maguire that? Who is briefing the journalists when city say they have complied.