Lets assume the PL strategy behind the 115 charges is to attack the Etihad Airways sponsorship in any way possible, eg by attacking contract docs or lack of contract docs, the methods of payments, stated values etc.
Despite some irrefutable facts:-
1 A large part of East Manchester M11 has been named the Etihad campus for a decade.
2 The Etihad Stadium sign is seen by millions of passengers flying into Manchester Airport on the East Manc inbound route.
3 The millions of people who have seen Etihad Airways ads during ACTUAL visits to the stadium for games/concerts etc.
4 The billions of people who have seen Etihad Airways on MCFC Kits during televised games
5 The millions of MCFC/Etihad Stadium references seen daily on digital platforms all over the globe
6 The millions of passengers who have flown on Etihad Airways aircraft painted in the sky blue MCFC livery.
Many of of our detractors claim the ultimate owner of MCFC is HHSM who is not just a citizen of the UAE but a member of the ruling family with official state roles. Etihad Airways is actually an Abu Dhabi airline but that makes it a UAE entity. So the IC will rule the Etihad Sponsorship is just a convoluted way for HHSM to pump money into MCFC and is therefore disguised equity funding.
Such a decision would destroy our accounting history completely. We know in the past the owner of NUFC directly sponsored his club via his business Sports Direct, and the owner of LCFC directly sponsored his club via his business i.e. King Power. Those are two very dangerous precedents for the IC to ignore.
In case anyone hadn't noticed, to this very day our main sponsor is Etihad Airways, that's six years after the date of the most recent PL charges. Are the PL going to demand the sponsorship must cease ?. The damage to Etihad Airways reputation would be huge. How would they respond after spending hundreds of millions of pounds on a long term sponsorship deal that is judged (after 15 years) to be illegitimate by the PL.
The next legal battle would of course be Etihad Airways v Premier League, and if City are not in the PL why would they care what damage was done to the PL ?
Personally I am resigned to this being a battle that will go on for many years to come.