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City: keep calm and carry on

The events at Manchester City have led to some strange reactions, but the prize must go to Simon Jordan on Talksport who has suggested that the Premier League should be disbanded.

We need to remind ourselves that the Premier League is one of England's few successful products, providing soft power around the world.   The clubs I support are in the Championship and the third tier of the non-league, but I enjoy seeing some of the world's best players compete in the top flight.  It should, however, be seen more as a branch of the entertainment industry rather than a sporting contesrt

One of the difficulties with bringing this unhappy episode to a reasonably prompt close is that so many actors are involved apart from the Premier League itself:

  • The Football Association
  • The Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Lisa Nandy as secretary of state
  • The prime minister
  • HMRC
  • The independent football regulator (whose credibility is said to be at stake, but in many ways it is above his pay grade)
  • The domestic courts (clubs seeking compensation and also City)
  • The media - no real locus standi, but very vocal
  • Potentially the Competition and Markets Authority
  • The United Arab Emirates
It is worth quoting what The Economist has had to say: 'The business model of the Premier League depends on being attractive to foreign investment.  Costly lawsuits, not to mention financial regulations which limit your capacity to invest, are anything but.  Financial fair play laws were introduced to stop dodgy owners loading clubs with unsustainable levels of debt.'

'They increasingly serve tio prevent the owners of  midsized clubs from investing the money their teams need to compete at the top.  The Premier League is right to uphold irs rules.  Whether these rules are worth having is another matter.'

Calm down and be careful about collateral damage.

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