Shaelumstash
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 30 Apr 2009
- Messages
- 8,254
Post of the thread, and the last sentence is the nub of the matter. A lot of people on here seem to be under the impression that because what City have done may not contravene the precise specifications of FFP as written, we are home and hosed. For me, they’re almost an irrelevance. This is the last and best chance our enemies (and I’m not talking about UEFA) have to get rid of us, not just for a season or two, but permanently. They will have already made their preferred decision clear to UEFA IMO and what the latter will be tasked with is coming up with a semi-credible vehicle to justify it. If that means inventing new bullshit about “the spirit of FFP” then I don’t doubt they will. Like you, I’m struggle to envisage a scenario, other than the obvious, in which those emails could have been taken out of context. These are utter bastards we’re dealing with. I don’t subscribe to the idea that UEFA will “investigate” this and then come up with a “nothing to see here” verdict, given the pressure on them from our rivals and the media. Court is where this ends for me, and that frankly is seldom more than a lottery. I hope we batter them
Post of the thread.
It's inevitable that UEFA will find a way to charge us and try to ban us for 1 year.
Thanks guys.
Irrespective of what City may or may not have done, there seems to be universal scepticism of whether we will get a fair hearing from UEFA.
That’s a terrible situation, but it’s understandable given UEFA’s behaviour.
I have come up with one possible theory as to how these emails could be taken “out of context”.
Perhaps the references to “ADUG” are not a refence to the actual parent company of City.
Perhaps “ADUG” was initially an informal group of rich UAE businessmen wanting to get involved in football. Maybe “His Highness” Sheikh Mohammed was a member of this group.
Perhaps the name “ADUG” was given to City’s parent company, and that legal entity is owned 100% by Sheikh Mansour, zero to do with Sheikh Mohammed.
If the refences in the emails to “ADUG” were a reference to the informal group of rich businessmen, and not a reference to City’s parent company, then I completely see how they’ve been taken out of context and City have done nothing wrong.
If we signed sponsorship contracts with Aarbar, Etisalat etc, it’s not really our business how they fund those deals. And it’s not really UEFA’s (providing no one legally connected to City has provided the finance).
If people associated with the inner workings of City such a Simon Pearce facilitated those deals, UEFA may well argue it’s still against the “spirit” of the rules, but I think they’d be hard pressed to throw the book at us.
This is all conjecture on my part of course, I’m just thinking aloud how those emails could be possibly be taken out of context.