This week it was announced that Manchester City FC – which has dominated English football in recent years – has been found guilty by an independent panel of 114 charges relating to the breaking of the Premier League’s financial rules.
- The essential charge is that the owners of the club – in essence the Government of Abu Dhabi – spent more than they were allowed to. Money was funnelled through various off-balance sheet means.
- I am not sure I am using “balance sheet” correctly.
- The judgement leaves little room for doubt. There were only ever 115 charges. The Premier League’s language is not diplomatic.
I doubt that the “appeal” will amount to much. - I am in two minds about the rules themselves. On the one hand, I think people should be allowed to waste their money in any way they choose. On the other, I don’t like seeing clubs go bust.
- Everybody knew. This always stank.
- The investigation only came about because emails were hacked and published in – of all things – Der Spiegel. Before that the Premier League in traditional British style had turned a blind eye.
- Manchester City seem to think that denial and obstruction is the way to go. They have to know that is not the case. This may be a cultural thing.
- And a political thing. The Prime Minister has thought it a good idea to wade in. It is even beginning to look as if British politicians can be bought. Well, to those who didn’t already think that British politicians could be bought.
- Such machinations do not bode well for the integrity of the government’s recently-formed “independent” football regulator.
- Politics and sport don’t mix. The whole point about sport is that it takes you away from politics.
- This is about sporting integrity: the idea that everyone is playing by the same rules, on and off the pitch. And it is not just the principle of the thing. Sporting integrity sells.
- The Premier League must understand it will take a hit from this. A huge hit. The only real question is how big and for how long. A few years ago I took to watching the Indian Premier League (that’s cricket). It turned out that the team I had been supporting had been bribed to throw games. I haven’t watched cricket since and I doubt I ever will.
- The punishment must be severe. It is the only way that sporting integrity can be rebuilt and shown to be being rebuilt.
- There could be all sorts of claims for compensation: “…We would have had this player. We would have won this. We wouldn’t have been relegated” etc. This could take years to settle.
- Punishment must also be swift. The fans will have their say. There is going to be a very unpleasant atmosphere every time Manchester City take the field. If they take the field… What would happen, I wonder, if clubs refused to play them?
- None of the above has anything to do with the fact I am a Watford supporter and am looking forward to the day when my team wins the FA Cup despite suffering the biggest-ever defeat in a final.
It would be interesting to see if the HMRC choose to investigate if any laws have been broken.
I think this is a very fair summation.
I support Manchester United. The owners have for years been taking money out of the club. In the case of City, the reverse is true. However, they did so in breach of the rules of the Premier League, and they knew it.
The owners “topped up” the money from sponsors by hidden payments. In years where actual sponsorship was about £10 million, they declared it was £100 million, and paid the balance into the club as if it were sponsorship money. This is quite simply false accounting, and a criminal offence.
The upshot is that City could afford to buy and pay the wages of the best players, whom they could not have afforded on their true revenue. It is cheating.
I believe that City needs to be ejected from the Premier League, and indeed the Football League. They can start again in non-league football.
They need to be fined the same amount they cheated other clubs by, namely £900 million.
All the trophies they won when they were cheating should be forfeit.
Going forward, it is clear that sovereign states should not be allowed to own football clubs.
Culturally, this fiasco seems to derive from the fact that City were owned by an Arab absolute monarchy. The rulers are not subject to the rule of law in their own country, and do not seem to understand that Manchester is not Abu Dhabi. They are corrupt, and corrupt everything they touch.
Probably shouldn’t be letting foreign governments own outright or a share of UK companies and organisations full stop. Poisoned chalice
I mean strictly speaking Abu Dhabi United Group is a private equity group, but the owner is a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family and the UAE’s Vice President, and the accounts are managed by the Abu Dhabi government.