PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

ChicagoBlue said:
Absolute fucking hatchet job thinly disguised as journalism on The Athletic tonight!

Manchester City, the Premier League and the season everything might change

A few excerpts:

There are some (executives) who are so worn down by the decade-long pursuit of City that they fear Manchester City’s case may result in a financial settlement rather than a sporting penalty. Then there are rival executives who consider this outcome to be impossible, utterly outrageous, and say it would cast the death knell for financial sustainability not only within the English game but across European football.

…

As one Premier League club executive says: “The collective view I’ve heard is that an appropriate sanction would have to be a points deduction so substantial — we are talking here between 70 and 80 points — that it guarantees City a season in the Championship.”

Another of the sport’s leading figures suggests the punishment ought to be more creative, that a number of points could be deducted from City in each of the next three seasons, meaning the club’s chance of Champions League qualification would be severely restricted. Another compares the City case to that of the English rugby union side Saracens who, when Premiership champions in 2019, were deducted 35 points, hit with a £5.36million ($6.9m at current rates) fine and relegated to the second division owing to non-compliance with the league’s salary-cap rules.

…

A coach who came up against City has simply made his mind up about their guilt and argues they have not achieved their success with the same level of discipline as their rivals, but suspects it is too late now to truly remedy the matter. At the same time, there are fears that a failure to convict and punish City poses major questions about the Premier League’s ability to run itself, particularly with the prospect of an independent regulator still looming next year. Numerous club executives say their incentives to follow the rules would be greatly diminished if the Premier League proves toothless on City.

…

In English football, nobody is prepared to put their name to quotes about the City case. That is not the same for La Liga president Javier Tebas, who has been a longstanding critic of the impact of clubs linked to nation-states. City always insist they are not owned by the state of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the deputy prime minister of the UAE and the minister of presidential affairs. He is the majority shareholder in City via Newton Investment and Development, a company he wholly owns and which is registered in Abu Dhabi.

Tebas tells The Athletic: “It is difficult for me to say what is proportionate in England because I don’t know so well the English rules and law. But I can refer to what happened at UEFA… then what happened at CAS — in a resolution I would describe as a joke — is they took the sanction away. It was a very controversial decision to take away that sanction. Now, let’s see, I won’t dare to predict, but I am aware that there is a lot of concern among many clubs in the Premier League about what happens with City. What happens with Man City is a before and after moment for the Premier League itself.”

…

And so on…

Anyone would think the Euros are over, the Olympics are over, and City are about to embark on the chance to win a FIFTH STRAIGHT TITLE!!!

UFB…Oh wait, no, it’s entirely predictable!

If you thought the whole of English football was praying for an Arsenal title win last season, one can only imagine the narrative we face this season.

Let the games begin!
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Does he actually mention anywhere in his piece the (very high) possibility that we will be cleared … and what will happen then
 
ChicagoBlue said:
At its heart, this is a racist, anti-competitive action taken on behalf of a few clubs who are butt hurt they’re not winning the big trophies.

They got a whiff of malfeasance and they’ve run with it to the natural conclusion of what they’re able to do.

Now, it’s up to a so-called Independent Commission, which is under pressure to find fault. Whether they have sufficient actual, hard evidence is literally unknowable by Bluemooners, but we don’t seem to trust the process any more than others who want us killed dead, which tells you it might actually be a decent process (?).

Regardless, under the rules, we are going to need a good reason why we should not be found guilty of the the non-cooperation aspect of these charges. Without some very good reason, and the communications to back that up, it’s hard to see that not sticking, in some form or another…much like CAS.

As for the more serious charges, they are piecemeal attempts to snag us on one or more offenses, including “under the table” payments to Staff and potentially false, misleading, or even fraudulent payments of monies to evade FFP. Those charges come with a very high bar and will need bulletproof evidence to prove, lest someone be left wide open to countercharges from the club for tarnishing the business image of not only a global business, but the members of the royal family they smear. Here, I think we are on firmer ground.

So, where does that leave City?

One expects there will be SOMETHING we are found guilty of, probably the non-cooperation. We may also, perhaps, get ensnared by the Mancini side hustle, but they’ll need documentary proof that was an inside deal. Beyond that, Khaldoon would have to be pretty sure there is not only no documentary evidence or proof of malfeasance or he is going to be in a precarious position, especially given his other, much larger and more visible, position within the “family business.”

In short, it’s a Clash of the Titans, and for the sake of all concerned at the PL, if you go after the King, you’d better make certain you kill him dead. I’m not sure they can, and that could get very, very messy for a few of the people involved.

COME ON, CITY!!!
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Well said. I’m a little more optimistic on the lack of cooperation to be fair. As far as hard evidence against goes, if existed at all I’d have expected some leaks or a whistleblower but there have been none…only complete cranks on Twitter etc.
 
SatOnTheWall said:
If these people are so confident of our “guilt”, why are they skulking behind the cloak of anonymity? At least señor teabag has the balls to stand up and be counted.

Out with it, you fucking cowards. Put your names to your words.

Some sort of evidence of this “guilt” would be handy as well. Whats that? You haven’t got any? Well now, there’s a turn-up for the books.

And the athletic expect City fans to pay for this shite? I don’t fucking think so.
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As much of a **** as Tebas is, this was exactly my thinking

Regarding your point about evidence, well if that Rag twat Crafton had any fucking balls and assuming these anonymous quotes are real, then he should've asked them what evidence they had of our guilt. But no, Crafton, The Athletic, and the wider media aren't fucking arsed about those finer points - all they care about are clicks.
 
There is still for me the elephant in the room (unless I have missed it).

What are they going to talk about for 10 weeks.

CAS was 3 days (I believe we where confident we had won after the second).

PL must have some evidence that they are presenting you would imagine for at least 2 and 1/2 weeks. Is it a load of circumstantial with expert witness statements giving their view. A whistleblower seems highly unlikely at this point. The emails and whatever documents City have sent over.

Say even 6 hours a day that is 75 hours of presenting evidence against us.

What have they got to present?
 
M18CTID said:
As much of a **** as Tebas is, this was exactly my thinking

Regarding your point about evidence, well if that Rag twat Crafton had any fucking balls and assuming these anonymous quotes are real, then he should've asked them what evidence they had of our guilt. But no, Crafton, The Athletic, and the wider media aren't fucking arsed about those finer points - all they care about are clicks.
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I suppose the fuckers have to eat (unfortunately)
 
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