The Super League | FA + PL: New Charter & Fines | UEFA: Settlement

[Phoenix900000]

Dont think the prem league can ban us from Europe but they can relegate us (which obviously won’t happen) strip titles or fine us. It’s more damaging to our already damaged reputation. Just wanna support the club on the pitch ffs fed up with the constant legal disputes so deflating

Second that. We should be doing this on a regular basis. We are football fans not legal experts.

 

[mat]

Shit is about to hit the fan again isn't it

Expect a transfer busting fuck you.

:)

 

[Phil1]

Dont think the prem league can ban us from Europe but they can relegate us (which obviously won’t happen) strip titles or fine us. It’s more damaging to our already damaged reputation. Just wanna support my club on the pitch ffs fed up with the constant legal disputes so deflating

It's fucking tedious and the fact its been hanging over us in one form or other for so long is a joke.
It's like somebody somewhere is determined to keep our name in the spotlight as being cheats, no idea who that could be..

 

[grim up north]

The bottom line about all this is that there is an ongoing disciplinary investigation concerning us that was commenced in 2018 and which has still not got beyond the preliminary stage. It is possible to piece together more of what the dispute is about from this judgment.

It is clear that the investigation is linked to the Der Spiegel allegations. Para 3 reads "the PL commenced a disciplinary investigation into the Club after allegations about the Club appeared in various European media reports which disclosed details of confidential documents obtained from a hack of the Club's email servers."

I'm not aware of any other articles in the European press other than those which piggy backed on the Der Spiegel article. The PL investigation was launched the day after the UEFA investigation that resulted in the appeal last year.

Back to the PL investigation, in August 2019 the PL requested various documents and information from us. We obviously did not complied with that request because in October the PL launched arbitration proceedings against us for that non-compliance. We objected to that on the grounds that the rules did not permit the PL to launch those arbitration proceedings.

One sidenote appears to be that the PL amended their rules relating to disciplinary proceedings, apparently as a response to our position. It wouldn't be the first time the PL had moved the goalposts.

That arbitration ran its course and was decided in June 2020, seemingly against us. In November 2020 the Arbitrators ordered City to hand over the documents requested by the PL. We appealed against that decision to the commercial court. Our appeal was heard in March 2021 and it was dismissed. That decision involved two decisions - one on the merits of our appeal, the other on the question of whether the outcome of the March appeal should be published. The Judge decided it should, but withheld her judgment to allow this appeal to proceed.

There were two arguments on appeal - whether the Court of Appeal had jurisdiction to hear the appeal and whether the Judge was entitled to order publication. We won on the first and lost on the second.

I won't go into the technicalities of why we lost on the question of whether the judgment should be published, save to say that it is to do with what is perceived to be in the public interest. The argument is not that City in particular are deserving of public scrutiny, more that whoever might have been on the receiving end of the PL arbitration process, appeals against arbitration awards show how that process works and so it is in the public's interest generally to see the workings of that process. The comment that we have won the league twice in the time that this has been going through the wheels of justice is part of the justification of the decision that (against our wishes and those of the PL) the judgment under appeal should be published - hence "it is surprising and a matter of legitimate public concern that so little progress has been made after two and a half years." The comment that we've won the league twice in that period seems to me to really simply underlining the length of time this process has taken. There is no suggestion that for instance any disciplinary offences were committed in relation to the period covered by those seasons.

The outcome of all this is that since there was no appeal against the merits of the judgment that the PL was entitled to documents and information from us, 'behind the scenes' we will have handed over the documents and information requested by the PL some time after the March 2021 hearing. We remain, however, as the court noted at para 66, at the beginning of a disciplinary process. Whether the PL will actually bring disciplinary proceedings as a result of this is not known.

I haven't yet gone over the PL rules and the original Der Spiegel allegations to see whether disciplinary proceedings are time barred working back from a date an investigation was opened, or working back from the date the disciplinary proceedings themselves are committed. Either way, there is a very good chance any alleged wrong doing unearthed by the Der Spiegel revelations is time barred or doomed to fail for the same reasons the UEFA disciplinary proceedings failed.

There are two possible ways to analyse all this. One, the PL have tried to empanel (as it seems to us) a sort of kangaroo court and we were having none of it. We have therefore pursued our arguments so far as the law allows, on some points we have succeeded, on others we have failed, and that's as it should be. Now that issues like the constitution of the panel and ongoing publicity have been dealt with, we will get on with dealing with the investigation, and we will defend ourselves again if necessary.

The second is that the longer the time between the alleged offences and the conclusion of any disciplinary proceedings, the more farcical it becomes to impose any sanction that would impact on the club's on-field achievements. Suppose for instance that some time next year the PL imposed a five point penalty for the 2013-14 season. That would give the title to Liverpool, many years after they had lost it on the field, as a result of allegations that were not proved by UEFA. The whole thing would make a mockery of the PL. If we are found to have been in breach at all (a very big 'if') the longer the time that has elapsed since those breaches, the less likely an on-field sanction (ie a points deduction) is to justify. That suggests that any on-field penalty would be applied towards the current season - eg a points deduction - or that the penalty would be financial in nature.

Which of those to analyses is correct?

No idea.

Great summary cheers

 

[LongsightM13]

That's the thing. The Judge states it was already in the public domain via Uefa and Der Spiegel, so fail to see what else they would also be asking for.

Said documents and context secured our appeal.

I get the impression the PL is demanding to see even more documents than were presented to CAS. City claiming that is a fishing expedition instigated by our rivals rather than being based on anything substantive, and is unfair on both City and our sponsors

 

[DMA's]

It's fucking tedious and the fact its been hanging over us in one form or other for so long is a joke.
It's like somebody somewhere is determined to keep our name in the spotlight as being cheats, no idea who that could be..

Agree mate so fed up of it all. The fact they are trying to punish us for investment put into the club from our own owner is absolutely farcical. Imagine a local shop facing sanctions as Tesco are pissed off they have increased their bakery section.

Absolutely stupid and is anticompetitive

 

[Citizen Green]

When were the Premier Leagues FFP rules created and implemented? Also, are they not significantly different to UEFA's.

 

[Citizen Green]

When were the Premier Leagues FFP rules created and implemented? Also, are they not significantly different to UEFA's.

One for @Prestwich_Blue

 

[Keith Moon]

Wonder if this is related to our case?

A joint statement from Newcastle and the Premier League on Monday said: "The parties attended a hearing today in the case between Newcastle United and the Premier League.

"The main hearing of the arbitration has regrettably now been adjourned until early 2022 due to issues with the disclosure of evidence.

"The parties will be making no further comment at this time."

 

[wolviedinho]

We all knew they would not go away quietly. The club is not squeaky clean but who is?

In truth, no one should give 2 fucks. We won a huge battle against the cartel and will continue to do so in the future. The club is rolling on nicely through choppy waters. The protectionist rules were stacked to stop us achieving a level playing field. If they want to fight us off the field so be it. Fuck em, fuck em all.