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.
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.
