sglowrider
Thinks the caf is 'wokeish'.
Well, it appears the revenue aspect is one of the problems. TV has exploded, but your revenue streams also went crazy and that hasn't been seen to such a scale with other clubs. The Eithad deal in particular looked dodgy and then got exposed in the leaks as being Mansoor paying himself. This is where the issue lies with your revenues. How much of it is real and how much of it is just essentially the owner pumping it in and pretending it is commercial revenue?
If significant, then you'll be in trouble as that was against the rules you and the other clubs signed up for.
Then there is the off the book payments. How significant are/were these? If Mancini for instance was being 2x + his declared wage and this was applied to players, then all your financial accounts are essentially fiction. The issue here is obviously proving they were for the job in question and not something seperate. If proven to be for being a Man City manager/player then your going to have HMRC to deal with as well.
Personally, I always wait and see with charges as I believe people/companies should be able to defend themselves before they are declared guilty. However, to just focus on spending in relation to the other teams you were competing with, doesn't really deal with the issues that you're being charged with.
Problem is that this case will not be done in public despite public interest. All quiet within the commission and then they publish their findings.
It's a suboptimal approach.