City and Financial Doping | Charged by PL with numerous FFP breaches | Hearing begins 16th September 2024

I remember journalists (I forget specifically which ones) who were quite outspoken about how well City treated them and the amazing food in the press office and were using this as a stick to beat United with.
 
I’ve always got MLB and franchise cricket to watch too.
They’ll kill the goose that lays the golden eggs and this rate.
Yeah. I really want to start watching hurling live too, fantastic game but doesn’t transfer as well on tv.
I know, they will. If city are punished properly though it would save it for me, cheating is just wrong.
 
The sad and scary thing is it's probably all too little too late. The media, the government, the PL etc. have all fecked it.

I already wrote, they are too big to fail now.
Next move is probably buying another club, and forming of some super league with state funded clubs.
FIBA already caved and they have two ME clubs in their competitions. But they were so fast to kill basketball club from my hometown, which had every European game packed with fans, for few millions.
 
I remember journalists (I forget specifically which ones) who were quite outspoken about how well City treated them and the amazing food in the press office and were using this as a stick to beat United with.

It was a running joke on Sky's Sunday Supplement. Every week the hack morons would make some comment about how well city treated them compared to everyone else. It was thrown in along with praise for their youth set up and facilities etc. Nauseating
 
It was a running joke on Sky's Sunday Supplement. Every week the hack morons would make some comment about how well city treated them compared to everyone else. It was thrown in along with praise for their youth set up and facilities etc. Nauseating
They should be made to bring a packed lunch with them. What's wrong with a few sandwiches and a yoghurt.
 
City's owners have a very immature mind, this is all similar to was it Putin or Kim Jong Uhn, claiming they had 18 Albatross's in one round of golf.
Everyone knows they cheated, but they feel great.
I don't know of one non City supporter who accepts their trophy wins
 
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This is a bigger issue though, because the reality is there is no way to ensure any owner isn't circumventing the rules, regardless of a salary cap. Nothing stopping an owner or shareholder offering a % of a fund they own or some random asset they own to a player via a string of companies that we couldn't trace.

What we should have is complete transparency of accounts, easier said than done, where as soon as you enter the PL you have to publicize all finances related to the club. Should just have a website like the Skateetaten one in Norway

that won't make any difference.
 


I heard through work today that it is Freshfields and Slaughters (representing City and the Premier League respectively in this matter) - with those two going at it on either side, the fees are going to be absolutely eye watering.
 
Maybe HMRC need to get involved looking into where money is going especially payments to avoid paying tax.

What access can HMRC expect to have to monies paid by an Abu Dhabi company into an Abu Dhabi bank account.
 
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-premier-league-is-to-become-less-competitive

Meanwhile in a parallel universe, plucky little City's chair claims that limiting the way that teams can receive sponsorship from companies controlled by their own owners will damage the chances of lesser teams being able to compete with the big boys.
Um...........
In a shocking twist of events, an authoritarian State does not like regulation telling them how they should act.
 
Something I don't get about the City project is why they have to continue to dominate football for the project to be seen by the owners as a success?

It would actually be far more in their favour for their arguments if they had won 2-3 fewer titles in recent years and taken the domestic cups a bit less seriously in the early rounds. They could still have been successful even without the alledged financial cheating, just by getting their structure and facilities sorted.

Their traditional clubs argument is also bizarre. united haven't won the league in 11 years. Liverpool have won 1 in 34 years, Arsenal only 1 in the last 20 years. Even worse, only two of those were won within the years since City first won the league.

Their goal for total dominance, rather than realistic but sustained success is hopefully going to be their undoing
But how did they achieve that separate from the cheating and the injections of billions from their owners? The foundations of it all are rotten too!
 
Maybe this is why ex players are not talking about these off shore payments, a massive tax bill if HMRC ever gets involved plus whatever punishment for tax dodging. You would think something would of come out by now, but personal jeopardy is probably a good silencing technique.

The players must know whats happening, i can't think they are too stupid to realise they are getting 'free' money in a foreign bank account.
Against the usual 'assume stupidity over malice' i think what really is happening is well known by each individial man city player, current and ex players.

Cos of the above, punishing players (taking away medals etc) is fine by me

Yeah, I've just assumed it's a case of keeping quiet out of personal interest. It's also safe to assume they are all NDA'd up to their eyeballs.

At one point I thought a loose cannon like Yaya could say something in public. But for all we know, these guys are still be on the payroll or have interests with Abu Dhabi.
 
Not even points deduction will happen for Manchester city. EPL are not foolish to taint the name of their biggest and most valuable product. The hearing is set on November so that guardiola renew his contract on January 2025 when the case concludes and city are exonerated
 
Villa are owned by the incredibly wealthy NSWE group.

Teams that are likely to back City are Newcastle, Villa and Chelsea.
And Ineos owned United, it makes perfect sense to inflate sponsorship deals to increase revenue so they can use Profits rather than Losses to pay of the historic debt?

Is it right no, rules are there’d to be adhered to not changed on a whim because you feel like you want to have a huge shopping spree one summer?
 
Not true. They are limited companies. And you can not stop a limited company from making a capital increase. The EU court has ruled that sports clubs must comply with civil and commercial law.

Are they football clubs or aren't they?

I'm not sure if you missed it, but we are no longer in the EU. There was a referendum in 2016. It was a fairly big news story.

If Chelsea and City don't like the rules of the Premier League, they are more than welcome to leave.
 
It's going to be weird as hell seeing Sky and the likes ignoring all of this next season. It literally CANNOT be ignored. Makes me sick to think they could win this. And they are planning compensation payouts as a result too!

Football (specifically the PL) is on a knife-edge at the moment. City gets their just desserts and we live to fight another day. City win, and the Premier League is dead.
 
You are, the FA has nothing to do with any of this

Sorry, meant the Premier League, but in any case my point is that I think (could be mistaken again!), they can't decide to "throw the book at them", as they don't set the punishment?
 
If City win this case it’s game over for the PL. I just hope if they do win there’s a huge backlash from the fans on an even bigger scale than the ESL protests. Get every game involving City called off. Something drastic needs to happen.
 
If City win this case it’s game over for the PL. I just hope if they do win there’s a huge backlash from the fans on an even bigger scale than the ESL protests. Get every game involving City called off. Something drastic needs to happen.

I think there will be a breakaway league if City come out on top. There won't be the same fan resistance as there was a few years ago.
 
On what grounds are they being allowed to compete this whole time with everything hanging over them?
 
Im yet to find a single blue who’ll call this out, even now they’ve more or less admitted breaking the rules. They’re like Trump supporters at this point.

It all feels like a desperate last attempt to derail the league’s case, and I hope they Get the worst possible punishment.
They really are.

Scrolling through Bluemoon reading their posts is basically just the same as scrolling through pro-Trump social media... you just swap out the proper noun.
 
On what grounds are they being allowed to compete this whole time with everything hanging over them?

It's not grounds as such but the PL makes all their money from TV rights and sponsorships so I imagine they've a lot of contracted responsibility around delivering a certain product over a certain period of time. I doubt they think it worthwhile rocking any boats before it's actually done

If for instance City were suspended and therefore less games were played no doubt the TV companies would be looking for some recompense /rebate from the league

Maybe I dunno tbh
 


that won't make any difference.
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It’s a start. If you just subscribe to the view people can cheat no matter what, what’s the point of posting here? Because whatever anyone says, it will be true that there will be a way around it.
 
This is a bigger issue though, because the reality is there is no way to ensure any owner isn't circumventing the rules, regardless of a salary cap. Nothing stopping an owner or shareholder offering a % of a fund they own or some random asset they own to a player via a string of companies that we couldn't trace.

What we should have is complete transparency of accounts, easier said than done, where as soon as you enter the PL you have to publicize all finances related to the club. Should just have a website like the Skateetaten one in Norway

It is a lot more difficult for a company operating in the US, UK or other western country to hide money from financial authorities that regulate them.

HMRC and Inland Revenue can audit companies operating here and even if money is paid to offshore accounts, there will be a trail for where it originated.

There is also the question of stakeholders in these companies who will want to know where money is being siphoned off to.

State owned clubs can present what they like to such regulators and authorities. Unless they are thick enough to get caught doing what City have done for the 115 charges, there is literally no way any authority can demand access to Abu Dhabi held business accounts and banks.

Their stakeholders are themselves. This is a sportswashing enterprise and they care little for what it costs.
 
It is a lot more difficult for a company operating in the US, UK or other western country to hide money from financial authorities that regulate them.

HMRC and Inland Revenue can audit companies operating here and even if money is paid to offshore accounts, there will be a trail for where it originated.

There is also the question of stakeholders in these companies who will want to know where money is being siphoned off to.

State owned clubs can present what they like to such regulators and authorities. Unless they are thick enough to get caught doing what City have done for the 115 charges, there is literally no way any authority can demand access to Abu Dhabi held business accounts and banks.

Their stakeholders are themselves. This is a sportswashing enterprise and they care little for what it costs.
Yes of course, it’s much easier for a state owned club but it’s possible for any owner to do this, often there’d be no trail at all to follow.
 
Reading what Khaldoon Al Mubarak has said about it all, he wants City to win everything, every year for the rest of eternity.
He isn’t interested in ‘competition’. Wants to be able to outspend everyone else in some noble pissing contest.
It’s abhorrent and the sooner they are thrown out of the EPL the better.
If they want a one horse race every year, they can go and do it in their own country.
There’s nothing racist in that. We would all just like our national game back.
 
The scale of the corruption when it finally comes out will shock everyone.
I'm not sure the level of corruption will ever be truly discovered. They are going to hinder any investigation & just throw money at lawyers.
Peps achievements will be forever tainted by the cheating ownership. Just kick them out and get it over with !!!