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PL investigation of City more serious than that by Uefa

The authoritative Swiss Ramble takes a 'deep dive' into the Premier League's charges against Manchester City: https://swissramble.substack.com/p/manchester-city-charged-by-the-premier

The scale of the accusation is unprecedented, adding up to more than 100 charges.  Basically, it is claimed that City have over-stated sponsorship revenue and under-stated costs in order to improve their bottom line, thus helping them to stay within FFP targets, either by boosting profits or reducing losses.

Although many commentators have presented this as a Financial Fair Play (FFP) issue, the fundamental allegation is a lot more serious, namely that City have “cooked the books” by submitting false accounts for the best part of a decade. If true, this would amount to systematic cheating and have huge implications for the club.

One of the accusations levelled at City is that commercial operations account for an unhealthy proportion of total revenue at 51%, but it is worth noting that PSG and Bayern are both a fair but higher with 59% and 58% respectively.

One of the accusations against Financial Fair Play is that it establishes a “glass ceiling” for aspirational clubs, thus cementing the status of the traditional elite. Survival of the fattest, if you will. This makes it extremely difficult for clubs like Manchester City, who were starting from a low base when ADUG arrived. The strategy of the new ownership in 2008 was obvious: make significant investment in the club, both the playing squad and infrastructure, which would lead to large short-term financial losses, but ultimately deliver profitability via the rewards of on-pitch success.

Many will assume that this is a waste of time, expecting a similar result to the previous UEFA case, but there are some important differences which might give this investigation more teeth:

  • The Premier League has spent over four years looking at City’s accounts, so they should be far better prepared than UEFA were.
  • No restrictions on source of evidence, which theoretically means that documents obtained by the Portuguese hacker are fully admissible.
  • No possibility of City taking the case to CAS if the judgment goes against them.
  • Evidence is not time-barred (though the case would presumably be governed by English law)

Are these accusations very serious? Definitely.  Will City be found guilty? Maybe.

 


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