I think your post is fair, but to the bolded, without going into conspirationist mode, I think it's quite easy to imagine that high ranking members of the previous Tory government had/have close ties, whether financial or personal, with high ranking Emiratis, and that there would have been some influence there in terms of putting pressure on the PL. Again, it's all soft power, probably would have been done informally (even though I seem to recall there was actually at least one official meeting between the UK government and the UAE, the contents of which were undisclosed, no?), so there won't be much on the public record, but it's genuinely how a lot of these things happen.
City and Financial Doping | Charged by PL with numerous FFP breaches | Hearing begins 16th September 2024
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I haven't really denied what you have said and I would also say that it won't matter if it is Tory or Labour - but that is a separate argument.
My point was that if the UAE was so important to Britain that it means the UK Govt will ensure that the case against them is whitewahed/quashed (whatever you want to call it) then the PL case wouldn't have ever got this far. As I have mentioned this case did not need to see the light of day as there were lots of 'outs' the PL had to sit on its hands.
In addition, the PL is an major financial and cultural UK product that will be seriously damaged if the case against City gets 'whitewashed'. That is also not good for the UK Govt and I would argue be more detrimental than City being taken to the cleaners and how that would impact the UAE x UK relationship. Let us not forget how much countries around the world (mainly ME) are piling into sport to 'sportwash' to gain soft power. Consequently, the PL reputation cannot be seriously damaged.
Thus, I do not see how anyone can think this has been taken to such lengths if everyone is going to turn around and go 'yeah, Man City haven't done much/anything wrong'.
That requires people to believe that the PL works in such a silo and with such data privacy/security that no one got wind that this was ongoing before it hit the press. That I believe is not possible and why it points to City getting a serious punishment and not getting a very lenient sentence.
Is it possible some of the PL clubs pushed for this which led to the PL charges?
Or has that been confirmed, perhaps?
Or has that been confirmed, perhaps?
I have heard that before the charges were made public, several clubs had written letters of complaint about City to the Premier League.
City are royally fecked. You read it here
I agree - I'm convinced that expulsion from the premier league, and thus, must re-apply to EFL for membership and therefore no return to PL for at least 3-4 seasons, will be the minimum that happens. Many of these charges, if proven, are potentially also chargeable in a criminal court in relation to fraudulent accounting, at least as far as I have read on the topic.
The first link is behind a paywall, but the 2nd highlights the impact on the UK economy, not as an export.
We can all speculate, but my thought is simple.
If they were going to let city off lightly, they would not have smashed so hard on Everton because it basically invites the comparison. To me, the harshness of the last few punishments - during this investigation - says city are heading for real trouble.
If they were going to let city off lightly, they would not have smashed so hard on Everton because it basically invites the comparison. To me, the harshness of the last few punishments - during this investigation - says city are heading for real trouble.
How I feel also. The Premier League has had ample opportunity to give them a slap on the wrist; they haven't. The British government has had 18 months to intervene; it hasn't, at least not publicly. I'm still preparing myself for disappointment, but I genuinely feel like City are getting the book thrown at them.
I also think, if City don't get the book thrown at them, Everton and Forest, among other clubs, will take their own action against City and/or the Premier League. It's going to be a mess regardless, but throwing the book at City may, ironically, yield the cleanest outcome.
This is the only place you've posted this.
Until City decided to sue the EPL I thought they might get off lightly.
If found guilty I expect they'll be completely screwed.
I mean City even got fined lately over 2m for late kick offs seemingly as a F U from the EPL. I hope all these fines and legal fees are accounted for in their latest accounts too.
If found guilty I expect they'll be completely screwed.
I mean City even got fined lately over 2m for late kick offs seemingly as a F U from the EPL. I hope all these fines and legal fees are accounted for in their latest accounts too.
Not saying this guy is right or wrong, but aware he has spent a lot of time following this subject in depth… this is a succinct summary of why he thinks City lose, so 
At worse they’ll spend a season in the Championship and bounce right back up like Juventus. Thats the absolute worst case scenario for them. I doubt they are bothered.
Juventus are the most popular team in Italy. City will have be lucky to have 200 fans turn up to their championship matches.
The other two discuss the export element of the PL both in a cultural and financial sense. Finding articles on the discussion of the PL's importance to the UK economy is not hard to find if you Google 'premier league UK economy export' for instance.
I’ve read that it’s actually 130 charges now?
On a talk sport podcast Ornestein ( spelling) stated that and if that’s correct it’s a million miles away from a significant number of posters on Bluemoon who claimed that the number had actually been reduced.
It’s also worth mentioning that our , Chelsea, investigaton is close to being concluded and just joining up a couple of dots it seems that any sanction may well be agreed as opposed to being handed down at an IC.The PL will be desperate for ours to be settled in advance of Cities hearing
Yeh that’s where I got it from too, which is say is probably a very reliable source.
Don’t matter how many turn up
They have the best squad in the league, championship would be a cakewalk.
They’ll be back up and continue with their thieving ways with more impunity claiming now they’d been punished hence all is fair and square.
Will these City players be as loyal as some of the ones at Juve though? City have some decent youngsters coming through, but you think about Haaland, Bernardo, Rodri etc. and whether they really want to spend a year in the Championship?
They will definitely bounce back up, but I think their team will get pretty dismantled.
City wont be able to afford to pay their current squad under FFP in the lower leagues and the significantly reduced income being out of the PL and European competition and no longer being able to cook the books on sponsorship will bring, I wouldnt be so sure they will just bounce back should they be relegated - the transition will destroy them
Qatar would stuff their banks with feck knows how much cash through some shady channels.
I reckon most would stay yeah.
Even if a couple leave, they can rebuild eventually and be back at it in 2-3 years max.
They have been conning the league for years, the punishment should be expulsion for a couple of years at least if not permanent and stripping of all titles. Nothing less is acceptable to me.
City owners will treble their wages
I hope you’re right but I have no trust in the current administration, its been an open secret for a decade that City are crooked.
And I know City are smart enough to find and exploit some loophole and be back before it can be patched.
City will get a very large fine and that will be the end of it.
No. They will also get a 20 point deduction that will be reduced to 10.
Probably, but the same idea. It will be a whitewash. Relegate City and you lose Guardiola from the PL and piss off a nation state who do alot of business with this country nationally.
I don't see it.
Anything less than relegation and/or stripping of trophies won during those years would be a travesty. A monetary fine is literally meaningless to them.
Not even a transfer ban would mean anything unless it's something like transfer banned for 5 seasons or something.
Not even a transfer ban would mean anything unless it's something like transfer banned for 5 seasons or something.
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I think they're fecked. Too much shit stuck to the wall for their not to be a severe punishment.
If they're not severely punished, it opens the door for a free-for-all.
If they're not severely punished, it opens the door for a free-for-all.
I think they'll do a deal to get enough of a deduction to make sure they stay up this season, but not enough to relegate them (50 points). One season without CL football is a drop in the ocean for them.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/57...ue-charges-season/?source=user_shared_article
The Athletic with a fairly balanced take. Doomed, I say. The ship is still afloat Pep, but she weren’t designed to be torn bow to stern….
The Athletic with a fairly balanced take. Doomed, I say. The ship is still afloat Pep, but she weren’t designed to be torn bow to stern….
Actually it's not. Firstly, the football league might choose to put them lower than the championship. Secondly, they could be banned from re-entering the prem for a number of seasons. The premier league is independent from the English football league (that was why it was created as a breakaway by the top clubs) - so even though they might win the championship, the PL can turn around and say "well tough they aren't coming back to our league" essentially.
They could also be stripped of titles for the years they were caught cheating, and have future bans on signing players. Much like Chelsea did.
Is Pep even that big of a draw? It's not the best metric to go on, but City aren't even in the top ten for yearly shirt sales across the world. Even Spurs are above them. I know some people follow managers instead of clubs but other than Amadeus I can't think of anyone else I've met who does that.
If we took out all the posts basically saying "they'll get away with it" we'd have about 3 pages on here wouldn't we.
Inevitable they'll have some sort of transfer window ban, as that's a very easy one to dish out.
But very easy for clubs to just go big in the window or 2 before hand as the bastad authorities always give notice.
"Al Mubarak, the club chairman, had said that “he would rather spend 30million on the 50 best lawyers in the world to sue them for the next 10 years” than agree to any financial settlement or penalty from UEFA in the midst of the previous case."
Sickening. How the PL have allowed these arseholes to purchase that little club is just unreal.
Sickening. How the PL have allowed these arseholes to purchase that little club is just unreal.
I don't see City getting out of this easily, the league as demonstrated with Everton (making example out of them for a less severe breach) will have to do something substantial to deter other clubs from getting ideas.
A light punishment and the likes of Newcastle or even Chelsea could find creative ways to skirt the rules. 115 charges is of such significance that even relegation for one season is not substantial enough. If it's over finances than something like a transfer window ban over five seasons (ten windows) would suffice.
That's enough for the team to deplete in quality and likely guarantees the resignation of Pep. There has to be serious ramifications.
A light punishment and the likes of Newcastle or even Chelsea could find creative ways to skirt the rules. 115 charges is of such significance that even relegation for one season is not substantial enough. If it's over finances than something like a transfer window ban over five seasons (ten windows) would suffice.
That's enough for the team to deplete in quality and likely guarantees the resignation of Pep. There has to be serious ramifications.