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City soap opera could boost interest in PL

Britain's leading business paper the Financial Times reflects on the week's events at Manchester City in its Scoreboard newsletter.

'Legal experts have billed City’s chances of overturning the verdict itself a serious uphill climb. But with the club insisting it will pursue all avenues available, many expect the case to run and run. One lawyer described this week’s events as being more like the “end of the beginning” rather than anything approaching an ending.

This is all pretty miserable for the Premier League. City, after all, are currently top of the league. Bookmakers currently rate the club as the second most likely to be crowned champions and the fourth most likely to be relegated. The uncertainty hanging over the competition will weigh heavily.

In the short term, it’s hard to see much of a knock to the Premier League’s business. If anything, the soap opera may well make the action on the pitch even more enticing for subscription-paying fans.

But if every result against City this season is now going to come with a caveat, the integrity of the world’s most popular football league is going to come under increasing strain.'

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