Stuart Brennan wrote last week that it was a threat of legal action by the G14 clubs on the grounds that debt is accepted as a way of attracting investment in European countries coupled with a threat of a breakaway competition which forced Platini to change tack. The G14 are right in that enterprises are borrowing all the time and are in debt much of it and leveraged takeovers are not uncommon in the UK, even among our most "elite" of "elite" clubs. The G14 then forced Platini/UEFA into a form of "financial fair play" which actually prohibited unlimited spending as a result of investment by owners/shareholders. This prohibition is specifically prohibited in TFEU. There is no "sporting exception" in the treaty and FFP has NOT been accepted by the courts. My belief, and I can give no guarantees, is that FFP would be demolished if City challenged its break even principle. The only hope for those who see some form of regulation as essential is that some form of "sporting exception" can be approved by the courts. The ECJ has shown itself to be not unsympathetic where contracts and free movement are concerned, but it will never accept limitations on investment however they are dressed up and it will not, I am convinced, give its assent to steps which are scarcely disguised attempts to fix the market, such as wage caps or transfer ceilings. The basic problem is a divergence of viewpoint between football administrators and the courts. The on field rules of the game are the concern of FIFA etc: the football business is the concern of the courts. The courts are concerned with commercial competition and their main concern is to see the improvement of the product through wider competition not to see it reduced by a self interested cartel. So, they would never ban unlimited investment, and it would be hard to secure their acceptance of a ban on debt. But they may just accept investment if it is real investment backed by solid guarantees. This would deal with player acquisition, but some way of dealing with debt for desirable projects for which debt is long term would have to be agreed. Taking tribalism out of it we would all agree that Arsenal's and Spurs' new stadia are good for the clubs and the game.