UEFA FFP investigation - CAS decision to be announced Monday, 13th July 9.30am BST

[waspish]

I completely agree on your second point - 2 year ban with break even restrictions vs 2 year ban without, clearly the latter is favourable (although I wouldn't trust UEFA not to put some monitoring restrictions in the detail of our sanctions meaning we had to comply before being reinstated in year three).

But on your first point, we signed Yaya and Silva without CL that year - but it was on the promise that they join our ever improving side and make it happen, which they did after year one. The 2nd year for both, we were in the CL - have been ever since. Players can usually deal with a year out of the competition - but a 100% confirmed 2 years out? As KDB intimated, that's a different scenario entirely.

Aguero we signed with CL football. We've played in the CL every single season he's been with us, so he's never had to take even a single year out of it.

Tevez was a unique set of circumstances, as he and his agent wanted to make the Rags suffer for pissing them around - and we profited. Sad though it makes me to say it, Tevez was more like Pogba and Sanchez - he followed the money, which pointed to us at that stage in our development.

Few teams in premier who don’t qualify for champs league keep there star players Hazard for one.

 

[Nicholas van Whatsisface]

I think we are a lot more astute than other teams at recruiting with Txiki signing the deals. Add to that players want to play for Guardiola and him hinting at extending I think we will still be a pull for players. We will unfortunately have to pay a bit more to soften no European football situation. We ain’t there yet though, Pep is preparing for the champs league so he must have a better idea what’s happening than what we are privy to.

Absolutely - like you, I have confidence in the Club that we won't be looking at a two year ban at all, so all this is moot.

But if that confidence is misplaced, and we do get hit with two years - I don't share your optimism that the top players will still be lining up to come. For one thing, I'd be very surprised if Pep entertained the idea of extending under those circumstances, as he would rightly consider the club had been lying to him this whole time about our innocence. The trust he has for the club will be broken, and Pep is a man of integrity in that respect.

I think we'd be looking at a reset - new Manager, new profile of players, and build again. It would mark the end of an era - and the start of a new one, with slightly more modest ambitions during those first couple of years.

 

[BluessinceHydeRoad]

Pep has been bullish all the way through. I am certain he has been briefed on our evidence and how the hearing went. I have felt positive ever since Soriano's statement to fans. Of course, like most of us on here, I am hoplessly biased in favour of City but, in my direct experience, body language of the people involved is usually significant following legal cases (even before the decisions are revealed)

Pep said very early on that he trusted the club and the club had told him they had not breached FFP. He said later that he had seen the evidence which confirmed this. He's our manager and not a lawyer or an accountant but...

 

[Centurions]

Am I reading that correctly? It seems to say that they're merely postponing this financial years reporting, that doesn't appear to allow any spending over and above what was allowable anyway? There is the mention of CV19 adjustments which are unspecified as far as I'm aware?

 

[creditunionhero]

Not quite. They couldn't judge whether the accounts were false but concluded FFP had been breached anyway.

If part of UEFA case is that our accounts are false, they would have to allege this in court. If they do and it is not the case could we sue them for defamation?

 

[BluessinceHydeRoad]

This appears to be UEFA like a drowning man clinging to the one plank of the smashed lifeboat which is all that is preventing them sinking to the bottom of the icy ocean.

They are fiddling with FFP while the clubs burn and making a few meaningless changes to the break even calculation. And at the same time they are ignoring the problem they chose to ignore at the start, DEBT. If football clubs die in the near future it will be because they are hopelessly in debt, not because FFP has protected their financial stability. I wonder what figures they'll concoc now to show that football is in much better financial health after the lockdown than before. And how it's all down to FFP of course.

 

[Citizen Green]

Are there any cases where CAS have found completely in a clubs favour over UEFA?

 

[dickie davies]

Are there any cases where CAS have found completely in a clubs favour over UEFA?

This is the reason I voted "other" as I suspect CAS will return the case back to UEFA with a time limitation attached and UEFA will fail that with our guilty verdict and punishment nullified

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

If part of UEFA case is that our accounts are false, they would have to allege this in court. If they do and it is not the case could we sue them for defamation?

As far as I know allegations made in the legal hearing will be protected (that's the case in the UK anyway) but if they are repeated (other than as an accurate report of the proceedings) in the media later the culprit could be sued. Certainly some media figures, notably Simon Jordan, have accused us of falsifying our accounts. If we are cleared then in theory we could take action, though it would be a waste of time for us to do this.

 

[Chi-town blues]

I take it Americans are not counted as 'foreign investors' because they have white skins.

Don’t want to throw race card but it is 100% true .