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

RoyH1 said:
Between the Premier League's investigation into City's finances and the ongoing investigation into Barsa paying the head of the Spanish refs during his time there, I must say I understand he must be feeling pretty cornered. Hell of a manager and football mind, no doubt, but the people around him took rule bending to the limit. And went over it sometimes.
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Have you considered he’s part of the problem?

Found to be a doper as a player. The blood transfusion scandal from 2006 which was meant to include Barcelona and Spanish players but the samples were ‘accidentally’ destroyed. Fell out with the Bayern medic after sending players to Spain because players weren’t recovering fast enough. The doctor came back to Bayern after Pep left. Barcelona paying referees. And now the financial irregularities with City. He finds anyway to cheap the system so he can win.
 
Josep Dowling said:
Have you considered he’s part of the problem?

Found to be a doper as a player. The blood transfusion scandal from 2006 which was meant to include Barcelona and Spanish players but the samples were ‘accidentally’ destroyed. Fell out with the Bayern medic after sending players to Spain because players weren’t recovering fast enough. The doctor came back to Bayern after Pep left. Barcelona paying referees. And now the financial irregularities with City. He finds anyway to cheap the system so he can win.
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Were those samples accidentally destroyed? I thought for some inexplicable reason the authorities ordered them to be destroyed?
 
Pep: People want to see us wiped from the face of the earth.

People: Yes
 
Sandikan said:
Were those samples accidentally destroyed? I thought for some inexplicable reason the authorities ordered them to be destroyed?
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They were ordered destroyed by the Spanish government (well by a judge but its super dodgy). Were they not Spanish not just football but apparently tennis, basketball etc.. would not be looked on quite as fondly. It was 2013 and Spain were utterly dominant on the pitch.
 
Josep Dowling said:
Have you considered he’s part of the problem?

Found to be a doper as a player. The blood transfusion scandal from 2006 which was meant to include Barcelona and Spanish players but the samples were ‘accidentally’ destroyed. Fell out with the Bayern medic after sending players to Spain because players weren’t recovering fast enough. The doctor came back to Bayern after Pep left. Barcelona paying referees. And now the financial irregularities with City. He finds anyway to cheap the system so he can win.
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Said this for years. Pep from his days as a player through every club he's managed has been the one constant in decades of cheating and corruption.

Maybe it's all one massively convenient coincidence but for me it takes away from his accomplishments.

Is there any other person in football who just so happens to be at the centre of some of the biggest scandals in the game? And given how close he is to them, you have to wonder who is protecting him.
 
padr81 said:
They were ordered destroyed by the Spanish government (well by a judge but its super dodgy). Were they not Spanish not just football but apparently tennis, basketball etc.. would not be looked on quite as fondly. It was 2013 and Spain were utterly dominant on the pitch.
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I thought so.

When doping is so prevalent in other sports where there is a huge focus on pure fitness, it's hilarious that so little has come out so far about football.
It's absolutely improbable that none of the top teams are "at it" to some extent.

The thing is, players wouldn't necessarily know, as they're so used to just taking on whatever their club give them they probably don't even question it.

But that Spanish period was rancid, shame it'll never be proven.
 
Sandikan said:
I thought so.

When doping is so prevalent in other sports where there is a huge focus on pure fitness, it's hilarious that so little has come out so far about football.
It's absolutely improbable that none of the top teams are "at it" to some extent.

The thing is, players wouldn't necessarily know, as they're so used to just taking on whatever their club give them they probably don't even question it.

But that Spanish period was rancid, shame it'll never be proven.
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You could tell the difference between pure natural energy and chemically enhanced stamina back then. The likes of Rooney, Tevez and other charging around like maniacs Vs the robotic relentlessness of the likes of Barcelona
 
Sandikan said:
I thought so.

When doping is so prevalent in other sports where there is a huge focus on pure fitness, it's hilarious that so little has come out so far about football.
It's absolutely improbable that none of the top teams are "at it" to some extent.

The thing is, players wouldn't necessarily know, as they're so used to just taking on whatever their club give them they probably don't even question it.

But that Spanish period was rancid, shame it'll never be proven.
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Joking aside and not to go too far off topic, even the stories about Liverpool and Mark Warnecke is probably tell tale enough. Here we have a failed swimmer who never won a thing then at 35 years old started winning major competitions after creating an isotonic potion. Liverpool struggled for 2 seasons under Klopp than they bring this guy in in 2018 and his recovery potion turns around (also we know of the inhaler, asthma rumours as they're unproven). That said his magic juice has been tested but it's all very sus how it played out. Especially with Liverpool doing 2-3 seasons full tilt, poor season, 2-3 seasons full tilt, poor season. Very cyclical.

Not to point the finger at Liverpool in particular, I fully believe at the top level they're all at it (even the bad teams). Maybe not Chelsea cause the bill would be fecking astronomical with the size of their squad.

In a world where u14 rugby teams are giving creatine to kids, its hard to believe top level football isn't doping. I'd imagine theres just so much money the tech is ahead of the testing (but I'm no expert).

Also on the players not knowing its likely possible. I think one of the ex-Irish players spoke about his time at I wanna say Millwall and how one season his pills from the club changed and he felt amazing. Its a while back but he said a few months in they all felt very sus and overnight it went away. I'll try and find the links. Probably better for a different thread though. "I didn't know" was also how Pep got his quashed if I recall correctly.
 
I'm sure I read years back when Wenger first came in he gave the old guys they had in their dressing room some "pills" and an injection and instantly they felt about five years younger, Keown mentioned it in an interview.

Guess if no one is actually failing drugs tests you simply can't prove it.
 
Josep Dowling said:
Have you considered he’s part of the problem?

Found to be a doper as a player. The blood transfusion scandal from 2006 which was meant to include Barcelona and Spanish players but the samples were ‘accidentally’ destroyed. Fell out with the Bayern medic after sending players to Spain because players weren’t recovering fast enough. The doctor came back to Bayern after Pep left. Barcelona paying referees. And now the financial irregularities with City. He finds anyway to cheap the system so he can win.
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Bingo.
Cheat as a player.
Cheat as a manager.
Wouldn’t play the fecking guy at monopoly either.
 
JagUTD said:
You could tell the difference between pure natural energy and chemically enhanced stamina back then. The likes of Rooney, Tevez and other charging around like maniacs Vs the robotic relentlessness of the likes of Barcelona
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I don’t watch many city games because ..reasons.. but I’ll never forget watching one of their games where Bernardo Silva was still pressing and running around like an absolute lunatic in extra time, the commentators were lauding him and the camera zoomed in on his face… his eyes were like saucers , me and my mate looked at each other like.. “oh come on”
 
Premier League said early 2025 is when the report should be ready. Unless they state differently, I am going with early 2025.
 
they will win the title first and then handed relegation or whatever. I can't see points being docked mid season, unless it's Everton.
 
Now with Rodri out for the season, I wonder what impact this will have on their title chances? Will they spend big on another midfielder in January?
 
DarkLord1984 said:
Now with Rodri out for the season, I wonder what impact this will have on their title chances? Will they spend big on another midfielder in January?
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They're so cynical and arrogant that I don't think they care about optics and will absolutely shell out a fortune if that's what Pep wants.
Could see them offering a kings ransom to Kroos to come out of retirement. Not that I think he'd accept
 
HTG said:
I think that’s a sensible analysis by him. I alluded to his first point before. The harsher the penalty would be, the worse those in charge will look. Big institutions tend to do whatever is in their power to avoid that. Punishing City adequately would mean an admittance, that the PL failed to protect the league for more than a decade and that a cheating operation was allowed to corrupt every aspect of the game. That’s a horrible look, even if that’s obviously the truth.
Even though I disagree that a large punishment would threaten the league. It wouldn’t. It would threat the reputation of the people in charge, who refused to act.
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This just sounds like a crock of shit to me. Lots of journos are trotting it out.

If a person or organisation breaks a code of ethics, the law, or acts in a fraudulent manner, they’re guilty.

Absolutely nobody is going to point and laugh at the Premier League and say “Ha ha look how much that criminal cheated behind your back”. There is an expectation of fair play baked into sports.

Not punishing an entity after running a whole investigation, gathering evidence, establishing the extent of their bad behaviour… you end up with the thing you’re trying to avoid.

‘This organisation made a fool out of you by acting dishonourably and getting away with it’.

I don’t see Barney’s two scenarios at all.

The harsher the penalty, the stronger they look. Relegating them and handing a five year transfer ban or whatever, is akin to dropping the first Nuke in Japan. It would serve as a message to all clubs that if they feck around, they WILL find out.

A fine or small points deduction just says ‘We’re weak as piss, do as you please and make sure your lawyers are good’.
 
DarkLord1984 said:
Now with Rodri out for the season, I wonder what impact this will have on their title chances? Will they spend big on another midfielder in January?
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They have Kovacic

For every injury there's another 50 million corrupt buy sat on the bench.
 
The holy trinity 68 said:
This is just a pipe dream unfortunately. City aren't going to get a punishment as severe as some people think.

The owners have too much money and influence.
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If that were true, the EPL wouldn't have brought the case. Unless you're suggesting they've somehow corrupted the independent panel who will decide the punishment?
 
big_jeffstar said:
I don’t watch many city games because ..reasons.. but I’ll never forget watching one of their games where Bernardo Silva was still pressing and running around like an absolute lunatic in extra time, the commentators were lauding him and the camera zoomed in on his face… his eyes were like saucers , me and my mate looked at each other like.. “oh come on”
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Same with Phil Foden last season numerous times. Would sprint for long distances in extra time when everyone would be naggered, while also doing the same during the whole match.

Some people have the genetics to be in a natural good shape, but it's hard to look at and not think something is up.

Btw with the Spain doping scandal, the credentials of some dopers were mentioned in the Fuentes-case. "A.C" mentioned in the case was probably snitching to not get a sentence, and the A.C. probably stands for Alberto Contador. If doping was almost state-organized in Spain since the olympics, it's really hard to not think that the greatest manager during the great years in Spain has not been involved in some kind of way.

Please let this house of cards come down with a bang.
 
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SuperiorXI said:
What does that mean? Now? 5 minutes? 5 days? 5 years?
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Its a different case, its the one where a few other clubs support Cities stance on over regulation but also City sueing for loss of revenue.
 
SilentWitness said:
Yeah. I reckon they'll just pay a big big fine.
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And it won't be invested into anything useful for anyone.

At the very least if City paid a massive fine that invested into huge grassroots football infrastructure projects or the like it would be somewhat palatable.

I doubt that will happen though.
 
ROFLUTION said:
Same with Phil Foden last season numerous times. Would sprint for long distances in extra time when everyone would be naggered, while also doing the same during the whole match.

Some people have the genetics to be in a natural good shape, but it's hard to look at and not think something is up.

Btw with the Spain doping scandal, the credentials of some dopers were mentioned in the Fuentes-case. "A.C" mentioned in the case was probably snitching to not get a sentence, and the A.C. probably stands for Alberto Contador. If doping was almost state-organized in Spain since the olympics, it's really hard to not think that the greatest manager during the great years in Spain has not been involved in some kind of way.

Please let this house of cards come down with a bang.
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Spain and Barcelona aren't always the best of friends.....Catalonia has tried to secede as recently as 2017 so I can't see Barcelona being the beneficiary of any state-organised doping, and if they were, they'd be behind Real Madrid in the meds queue. As for players not being aware of what they are taking, I'm sure Rio Ferdinand was aware back in 2024, hence why he went shopping.
 
Mrs Smith said:
Spain and Barcelona aren't always the best of friends.....Catalonia has tried to secede as recently as 2017 so I can't see Barcelona being the beneficiary of any state-organised doping, and if they were, they'd be behind Real Madrid in the meds queue. As for players not being aware of what they are taking, I'm sure Rio Ferdinand was aware back in 2024, hence why he went shopping.
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Take a look at the incentives Spain has then: Better Barca players = more trophies for the national team. It’s a bit weird to think only one of Real Madrid and Barca would dope and be able to compete at the same time. Give it to both or more teams and it doesn’t look suspicious in the league.
 
Garnacho's Shoelaces said:
If that were true, the EPL wouldn't have brought the case. Unless you're suggesting they've somehow corrupted the independent panel who will decide the punishment?
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I can see them bringing the case just to pay lip service to the idea that they are vigilant and impartial when it comes to these things.

Not saying I think that’s the case, but that’s usually how corruption goes in the west when something’s too public to bury.
 
ROFLUTION said:
Same with Phil Foden last season numerous times. Would sprint for long distances in extra time when everyone would be naggered, while also doing the same during the whole match.

Some people have the genetics to be in a natural good shape, but it's hard to look at and not think something is up.

Btw with the Spain doping scandal, the credentials of some dopers were mentioned in the Fuentes-case. "A.C" mentioned in the case was probably snitching to not get a sentence, and the A.C. probably stands for Alberto Contador. If doping was almost state-organized in Spain since the olympics, it's really hard to not think that the greatest manager during the great years in Spain has not been involved in some kind of way.

Please let this house of cards come down with a bang.
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I remember Andy Murray talking about this, there was a lot of talk of Nadal being involved at the time.

The fact the government intervened and put a stop to the investigation says all you need to know about it.

How that was allowed to happen is beyond me.
 
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