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

That was match fixing I think wasn't it?

Looking back that completely ruined Italian football, just won the world cup as well.
 
I always write that nothing will be done and that they're now too "big" (play too well) to be touched.

But I was just thinking-

How come Juventus did get heavily penalized back in 2006? You'd also think they were too big for Italian football to be messed with.
Yet they got a rather significant punishment (that their players stayed and got them right back to the top is a credit to them).

What was different in the Italian scene? I don't know anything about it so just asking, maybe someone knows better.
Juventus got caught in match fixing scandal. Not the same.
 
@pacifictheme @RedDevil@84

Would you say that match-fixing is definitely worse than the numerous things City are accused of?
or is it the fact that Juve got caught- While City is just suspected of....- that makes the difference in your opinion?

I agree it's not the same thing.
I just wonder why it's necessarily worse.
 
@pacifictheme @RedDevil@84

Would you say that match-fixing is definitely worse than the numerous things City are accused of?
or is it the fact that Juve got caught- While City is just suspected of....- that makes the difference in your opinion?

I agree it's not the same thing.
I just wonder why it's necessarily worse.
Yes and yes. Match fixing is a direct scandal that affects the regular game. Financial fraud is affecting the league in the long run, but not affecting every game week.
If City were snapped by media organizing an orgy attended by Webb, Oliver, Taylor, Luckhurst, Ducker, then that is a bigger and direct scandal.
 
Yes and yes. Match fixing is a direct scandal that affects the regular game. Financial fraud is affecting the league in the long run, but not affecting every game week.
If City were snapped by media organizing an orgy attended by Webb, Oliver, Taylor, Luckhurst, Ducker, then that is a bigger and direct scandal.
Agreeing to a set of rules that everybody abides by, then ignoring them affects every single minute of every game that you play v someone who has abided by the rules.
 
They could just sweep it under the carpet for both teams. But it'll severely damage the competitions.
At the moment i dont take either team seriously. I basically disregard every win, every achievement. Without punishment for their blatant sabotaging of the competitions they play in i'll stop taking the wider competition seriously.
Is football a sporting competition or a scripted soap opera?
They have the rules in place to deal with this situation. If the uk government interferes with the FA then they can be expelled from all FIFA competitions. Thats basically their protection from interference from Abu Dhabi. Use it.
 
Agreeing to a set of rules that everybody abides by, then ignoring them affects every single minute of every game that you play v someone who has abided by the rules.
Technically yes. But it is much different from referee taking a brown envelope from a team and blatantly cheating in the game.
 
@pacifictheme @RedDevil@84

Would you say that match-fixing is definitely worse than the numerous things City are accused of?
or is it the fact that Juve got caught- While City is just suspected of....- that makes the difference in your opinion?

I agree it's not the same thing.
I just wonder why it's necessarily worse.

I think from memory it was a way easier case with the Italian teams. City have stated they will be as obstructive as possible.
 
there was no collusion with the pl (except by the red devils). when will this very expensive witch hunt hoax ever end? so bad for our country. is the special counsel/justice department leaking our lawyer’s letters to the fake new media? should be looking at red devils and their confirmed corruption instead?
 
The PL don't want to unleash hell on City. Nor do UEFA.

Nobody in the corrupt upper echelons of football has anything to gain from doing it.

If they truly had nothing to gain, they wouldn't have bothered making the charges.
Now if they disappear/take ages/come to a £20 fine, the league will just look utter patsies.

Which we know they are, but why show themselves publicly to be?
 
I think people keep forgetting that that the premier league who kicked this off are the 19 other teams in the league. I dont see them being that cooperative or easy to dissuade from handing out an appropriate punishment.
 
I don't see how anyone can believe a mere footballing body has any say or sway in this. It has gone way, way above their station.

If someone had said that the government would nix this at the start of this thread they would have been laughed out of the forum.
 
I don't see how anyone can believe a mere footballing body has any say or sway in this. It has gone way, way above their station.

If someone had said that the government would nix this at the start of this thread they would have been laughed out of the forum.
This is why no one should support any state bid, to become a bargaining chip for another country is about as soulless as you can become. I get it sucks not winning major trophies but once you sell your soul, it’s gone forever.
 
I don't see how anyone can believe a mere footballing body has any say or sway in this. It has gone way, way above their station.

If someone had said that the government would nix this at the start of this thread they would have been laughed out of the forum.
Thats a dangerous game. FIFA have a rule that national associations must be independent and free of political interference. There's potential for the entire league to be kicked out of fifa competitions, effectively voiding any contracts and having a mass exodus of talent, sponsorship, money and noteriety. It would make these state investments worthless.
I mean if the fa had any balls or sense the second the government starts pressuring them re manchester city, they expel city from the league and competition. That alone is grounds to do so. If the government want to nuke the league and competition to look after their paymasters then so be it but it would be hideously short sighted for everyone involved in that scenario.
 
there was no collusion with the pl (except by the red devils). when will this very expensive witch hunt hoax ever end? so bad for our country. is the special counsel/justice department leaking our lawyer’s letters to the fake new media? should be looking at red devils and their confirmed corruption instead?
what collusion would that bE? believe we would be charged immediately if we broke the ruleS. did we not recently pay a fine for a minor ffp rule infractioN?

media bias is heavy in favour of fake champs cheaty fC. calling them out would be bad for everyone profiting from the pL.

england is scared offending united emirates, another authoritarian human rights violating regimE.

you broke over a 100 rules so far, i hope your cheaty club pays the pricE. letting it get away is bad for your countrY.
 
there was no collusion with the pl (except by the red devils). when will this very expensive witch hunt hoax ever end? so bad for our country. is the special counsel/justice department leaking our lawyer’s letters to the fake new media? should be looking at red devils and their confirmed corruption instead?

Lay off the funny medicine my friend, it is distorting your reality. Every club City played will be pressing charges against them, so is fortunate you have a large number of lawyers on the books for there are many forthcoming cases.
 
there was no collusion with the pl (except by the red devils). when will this very expensive witch hunt hoax ever end? so bad for our country. is the special counsel/justice department leaking our lawyer’s letters to the fake new media? should be looking at red devils and their confirmed corruption instead?
What about Woodward's laptop?
 
what collusion would that bE? believe we would be charged immediately if we broke the ruleS. did we not recently pay a fine for a minor ffp rule infractioN?

media bias is heavy in favour of fake champs cheaty fC. calling them out would be bad for everyone profiting from the pL.

england is scared offending united emirates, another authoritarian human rights violating regimE.

you broke over a 100 rules so far, i hope your cheaty club pays the pricE. letting it get away is bad for your countrY.
Lay off the funny medicine my friend, it is distorting your reality. Every club City played will be pressing charges against them, so is fortunate you have a large number of lawyers on the books for there are many forthcoming cases.

Guys it's rimaldo, he's just wumming :lol:
 
The problem is that they are state owned. Unlike Abrahomovic there’s no political weapon like the Ukrainian war nor is Abu Dabi group just a private investor who can be held accountable. Nothing will happen, they won’t risk damaging any political ties or commercial deals.
 
If they truly had nothing to gain, they wouldn't have bothered making the charges.

Not sure I agree with that, to be honest.

Corrupt as they are, they aren't - and can't afford to be - card carrying villains, as it were. They have to keep up some kind of pretense, for sponsors and the like.

Bottom line (pun intended) is that actually throwing the book at City would have ramifications nobody in the corridors of powers are comfortable with.
 
Not sure I agree with that, to be honest.

Corrupt as they are, they aren't - and can't afford to be - card carrying villains, as it were. They have to keep up some kind of pretense, for sponsors and the like.

Bottom line (pun intended) is that actually throwing the book at City would have ramifications nobody in the corridors of powers are comfortable with.

But they didn't need to go and find these 100 charges from years back.
Noone was calling for it by then as everyone had seen them evade a few European charges.

So to make a huge scene of finding 100 charges and then basically let them off would be utterly brainless behaviour as it'll simply bring scrutiny that wasn't there before.
 
But they didn't need to go and find these 100 charges from years back.
Noone was calling for it by then as everyone had seen them evade a few European charges.

So to make a huge scene of finding 100 charges and then basically let them off would be utterly brainless behaviour as it'll simply bring scrutiny that wasn't there before.

Yes, you'd think so.

But I have less than zero faith in the people carrying out this process. I'm sorry - but that is my take on this: it will turn out to be a form of window dressing, essentially. They have no genuine intention of bringing any punishment to City that would make a difference.

The only plausible scenario in which they (the PL and/or UEFA) might actually do that (throw the book at 'em, genuinely want to hurt them) would be one in which certain other clubs have managed to convince them (the PL and/or UEFA) that it might be more profitable (in one way or another) to make an example out of City (pretend they actually care about fairness or whatever).

That scenario, however, was made much less likely by them winning the CL. As I've said before, if City go down in flames, part and parcel of that downfall will be a huge stain on Pep Guardiola - the bald non-fraud who is pretty much officially the GOAT manager now for multiple generations of football fans.

Sorry for being so depressing and cynical. But I genuinely believe the football authorites (PL, UEFA...down to the tiniest regional association) are corrupt as feck.
 
How much Arab money must have been channeled directly into Sunak's wife's foreign businesses and accounts? That's a lot to pay back with interest.
 
If you're going to indulge in financial doping you might as well go all in.

UK government pressed for answers on Sheikh Mansour and Russians

Ukrainian activist urges government to investigate City owner
‘Many oligarchs appear to have found home for wealth in UAE’


https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...hester-city-owner-sheikh-mansour-and-russians



OK …. Did they really need a special investigation unit for this???

CNN would have more than sufficed. The ultimate humor in closing down a club completely because they were owned by a retired Israeli citizen with no bearing on the conflict in Ukraine … when EVERY owner from an OPEC nation was directly responsible for allowing Russia to actively dodge sanctions , and even receive active support … was prime Irony.

What about Newcastle? Bin Salman has met with Putin at least 30 times to discuss strategy. Country’s like the US have asked them to stay in line with sanctions policy… and were told outright: “No”.

We are talking 100’s of billions of dollars in illicit aid.

If OPEC won’t do the right thing, then they should absolutely face being placed in administrative control, unable to even re sign their own players, until new owners that don’t violate the legal stance of the country can be found, right? We were told that’s what HAD to happen when it involved Chelsea.

Our former owner was openly called a “westernized traitor” by Putin and every cent of our sale went to Ukraine to use as they saw fit… after the British government admitted to openly lying about Romans newer company Evraz … primarily based in the US … making tank steel…

And they went so far as to not let us pay our current day to day employees.

Evraz related lawsuits have all been victorious starting in countries like Australia, and at the end of July this year those legal actions started in Great Britain. England led the way lying about an important global resource provider, putting millions of jobs in countries like the US at risk … just to get at a football team.

While OPEC owners directly fund Russia’s aggression and get … nothing but praise really.
 
It’s time that state owned clubs were banned. Politics should never influence what happens on a football field, yet here we are with a government willing to excuse cheating on an industrial scale, just because they don’t want to upset other nations.
Actual countries/states should never own football clubs in other countries.
There‘s way too much conflict of interest.
You May say that the horse has already bolted, but just like Abramovich was forced to sell, it should be exactly the same for other state owned clubs. Problem is, the Tories love buttering up rogue states.

Disgusting that the National game has been allowed to become a pawn in political circles
 
It’s time that state owned clubs were banned. Politics should never influence what happens on a football field, yet here we are with a government willing to excuse cheating on an industrial scale, just because they don’t want to upset other nations.
Actual countries/states should never own football clubs in other countries.
There‘s way too much conflict of interest.
You May say that the horse has already bolted, but just like Abramovich was forced to sell, it should be exactly the same for other state owned clubs. Problem is, the Tories love buttering up rogue states.

Disgusting that the National game has been allowed to become a pawn in political circles
Correct.
 
It’s time that state owned clubs were banned. Politics should never influence what happens on a football field, yet here we are with a government willing to excuse cheating on an industrial scale, just because they don’t want to upset other nations.
Actual countries/states should never own football clubs in other countries.
There‘s way too much conflict of interest.
You May say that the horse has already bolted, but just like Abramovich was forced to sell, it should be exactly the same for other state owned clubs. Problem is, the Tories love buttering up rogue states.

Disgusting that the National game has been allowed to become a pawn in political circles
I’d go a step further and say that if Ambramovich had ACTUALLY been a front for Putin or the Russian state, like Deripaska and the guys parliament still take “contributions” from… then there wouldn’t have been a forced sale. Ambramovich is just a normal guy, a billionaire, but just a guy, and one that half the Russian hierarchy would prefer dead. He was easily “gettable” …. So that they can say they took a hard stance when Russias real Allies (like the OPEC countries) bend them over a barrel.
 
I’d go a step further and say that if Ambramovich had ACTUALLY been a front for Putin or the Russian state, like Deripaska and the guys parliament still take “contributions” from… then there wouldn’t have been a forced sale. Ambramovich is just a normal guy, a billionaire, but just a guy, and one that half the Russian hierarchy would prefer dead. He was easily “gettable” …. So that they can say they took a hard stance when Russias real Allies (like the OPEC countries) bend them over a barrel.

Just a normal guy. Just your average Russian guy.
 
It’s time that state owned clubs were banned. Politics should never influence what happens on a football field, yet here we are with a government willing to excuse cheating on an industrial scale, just because they don’t want to upset other nations.
Actual countries/states should never own football clubs in other countries.
There‘s way too much conflict of interest.
You May say that the horse has already bolted, but just like Abramovich was forced to sell, it should be exactly the same for other state owned clubs. Problem is, the Tories love buttering up rogue states.

Disgusting that the National game has been allowed to become a pawn in political circles



It’s not just the Tories, Labour won’t do a thing about this either. Andy Burnham has a prime opportunity to speak up about this but he won’t risk the investment in Manchester. Nothing will change at all unless it comes from a concerted, cross-club movement of fans and even then it’s probable nothing will change. Starmer has already laid out his intentions by spending some much time hobnobbing at Davos.

You’d have to think it would make sense for any government to knock state ownership on the head, it removes a source of ongoing headaches they could do without, sadly none of the political parties will risk investment by doing so, the country is on the hook completely.
 
How does City keep actual good/great players who are bench options/rotation happy anyway?

There has been others who are content with minimal roles in the side, latest one is Alvarez, you figure he should be a starter somewhere, but apparently happy to be rotation.
 
How does City keep actual good/great players who are bench options/rotation happy anyway?

There has been others who are content with minimal roles in the side, latest one is Alvarez, you figure he should be a starter somewhere, but apparently happy to be rotation.

He has 6 goals and 4 assists this season. Plus trophies. Plus a lack of off the pitch bullshit. Plus fans that don't wave white hankies.
 
Shows the importance of a top DM. They lost every game that Rodri was suspended for