Skip to main content

City may take fight to international courts

Manchester City may take its fight with Uefa to state and international courts if its appeal to the Court for Arbitration of Sport in Lausanne fails. One of the leaked e-mails provided to the Uefa adjudication body said that rather than settle the club's 2014 financial fair play case, club chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak informed the then Uefa general secretary that he would rather spend £30m on the 50 best lawyers in the world to sue them for the next ten years.

City was represented at CAS's October hearing by eight lawyers. In opposition, Uefa was represented by just two lawyers. City argues 'that this is a case initiated by Uefa, presented by Uefa, and judged by Uefa.'

An attempt to extend the legal challenge beyond CAS would require City to overturn a 2012 statement from the EU's competition commissioner supporting FFP. Last year a memorandum of understanding was agreed between Uefa and the European Club Association (of which City is a member) outlawing challenges in national or international courts.

In his new book The Price of £ootball Kieran Maguire notes: 'The word "fair" is a complete misnomer if the intention of those who make the rules is to keep competition for major European trophies between the very few and prevent newly monied clubs from rising to challenge the existing cartel.' Maguire also notes that Uefa is honest in stating that the purpose of FFP is not to create a level playing field between clubs, but to encourage clubs to build for success rather than seeking a 'quick fix'.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wolves get raw deal from FFP

  I used to see a lifelong Wolves fan for lunch once a month.   He was approaching ninety, but still went to games.   Sadly he passed away the other week. As football finance guru Kieran Maguire has noted, Wolves continue to be constrained by financial fair play rules.  Radio 4 this morning described them as this year's 'crisis club' and the pessimists have certainly been piling in. Martin Samuel wrote sympathetically in the Sunday Times yesterday, saying that the Premier League drives talent away with regulatory red tape: 'Why could Al-Hilal sign Neves? Because Wolves needed the money. And why did Wolves need the money? Because the club had to comply with an artificial construct known as financial fair play. So Wolves are going skint, yes? No. There is no suggestion that Wolves are in financial trouble, only that they are failing to meet the rigours of FFP. Wolves’ owners appear to have the money to run the club, and invest in the club, and in fact came up with a pow
Post a Comment
Read more

Gold standard ground boosts Tottenham's income

The gold standard in European football grounds is the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London, a £1bn construction project completed in 2019. Its impact on the club’s finances has become increasingly clear as the effects of the pandemic have faded. Previously, the average fan would spend less than £2 inside the ground on a typical match day, but now that figure is about £16, thanks to new facilities including the longest bar in Europe and an on-site microbrewery. Capacity has gone up from 36,000 at the club’s previous home of White Hart Lane to 62,000.  The new stadium — built on land adjacent to White Hart Lane — has opened the door to a broad range of other events that have helped to push commercial income up from €117mn in 2018 to €215mn in 2022. Last year, Tottenham hosted US singer Beyoncé for five nights on her global Renaissance tour, two NFL matches, as well as rugby games and heavyweight boxing bouts.  Money brought in from football has gone up too. Match day income is
Post a Comment
Read more

Charlton takeover approved

The long awaited takeover of Charlton Athletic by SE7 Partners from Thomas Sandgaard has been approved:  https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/se7-partners-obtain-efl-approval-for-charlton-athletic-takeover/ Charlton have had unhappy experiences with owners for over a decade, so how this works out will remain to be seen.  There is certainly potential there, but will it be realised? This interview with Charlie Methven gives detail not available elsewhere:  https://thecharltondossier.com/charlie-methven-on-the-record/
Post a Comment
Read more