Manchester City have been charged with over 100 breaches of regulations by the Football Association and if proven could face points deductions or even expulsion from the Premier League.
The charges stem from the same hack which originally saw them expelled from the Champions League. If you recall that case there were numerous financial irregularities proven but overturned or reduced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) largely due to statute of limitations.
If you recall those earlier charges they were that City inflated their sponsorship deals in order to funnel money from their owners into the club, giving them buying power which they shouldn’t have had given their (lack of) sporting success and popularity.
They have also been charged with lying about Roberto Mancini’s salary and payments to Yaya Toure’s agent. These acts were a breach of Financial Fair play rules and in addition to that charge, they are being charged with obstruction. Unlike UEFA’s toothless charges, City will NOT be able to take these accusations to CAS.
According to the rulebook, City could face points deductions, fines, and even expulsion from the Premier League. And could even have their titles vacated.
There is going to be a lengthy process from here, however. The Premier League have referred the charges to an independent commission. City will be able to defend themselves there and will also be able to appeal any decisions to the courts. However, as stated earlier, will not be able to take their appeals to CAS.
From a fan perspective, as an Arsenal supporter, I have to say that I’m ecstatic that City are finally being charged. The financial doping of clubs like City, PSG, and Chelsea (and now Newcastle) have done more to ruin football than any other development in my lifetime. Just look at what’s happened this January in the transfer market, where Chelsea have spent well over £300m in transfers. Entire countries are having their football decimated by the Premier League and the competitive balance in world football is out of whack. There’s a legit reason why clubs still want to form a Super League, and it’s because of the money that clubs like Chelsea and City spend on transfers and salary.
I will admit, however, that I’m sceptical that City will have the harshest penalties imposed and we probably won’t see much if anything this season. City will have an army of the world’s best lawyers on their side and at the very least will drag this whole thing out for a long time. I expect that there will be an initial strong punishment followed by reductions to the point of a slap on the wrist. In the end, they will probably “donate” a huge sum of money to the Premier League or the English Football Pyramid in exchange for having all charges dropped and their name cleared. I’d love to see them have their titles taken away or be relegated to the first division but let’s be realistic here, these are the same folks who just approved Saudi Arabia’s takeover of Newcastle United. And if murdering and dismembering a journalist doesn’t fail the fit and proper persons test then I’m fairly certain that City dumping money into the club illegally is ultimately going to be glossed over. Like I said, they will probably donate money to something in order to get this all swept under the rug.
But. We can hope.
Sources:
Haha, I love how you found the pretty words to describe blatant bribery and subsequent laughing in the faces of the rest of the football lovers … DONATE MONEY TO SOMETHING 🤣🤣🤣
It’s true though, right? Just like the Saudi owners of Newcastle.
This all seems pretty obvious, and as you say, is a huge problem for football right now.
But it will take years to resolve, and I expect it will probably end up with a slap on the wrist and fine, and probably not much more.
Am I the only one worried that this might take the gloss off Arsenal’s league title this season? Lol
I had a really fun time laughing at the Liverpool and Chelsea fans who said it wouldn’t count the same if we won the title. As if their failures had nothing to do with us being 15 points ahead of them.
But let’s not count any birds. Long way to go.
I’m sure that’s going to be a sentiment among some of the fan base. But for me, the only way the gloss will go off on Arsenal’s league title IF we manage to get over the line – still half the season to go – is if we are somehow guilty of some sort of fiscal breach or breaches. Though no club in Premier League comes close to City, we’ve spent a LOT of money ourselves and I worry if we’ve crossed all the t’s and dotted all the i’s.
My thoughts too. The Kroenke spending spree started AFTER they bought over Usmanov’s and the AST shares. One reason they could only start spending after the purchase was because without minority shareholder oversight, they are then opaque to certain auditory processes and rules. So there is something to hide.
My guess is KSE are cross-collateralising Arsenal with their other sports franchises or getting debt financinat the group level (ie not club level). We really shouldn’t crow so much because Arsenal might very well be in breached.
Sorry for spelling errors. Typing this on an iPad from a Tokyo hotel.
We may be essentially taking money from American football and other sports and using it to buy Nicolas Pepe. If you think about it, it’s not that much different from Man City accessing oil money to pay for their players. Neither clubs are purely self sustaining and deriving transfer funds from their revenues.
I’m jealous that you’re in Tokyo!
As for your assertion about Arsenal taking money from the owners, there were some funds injected via secured loans – loans secured by Kroenke using Arsenal as collateral. Clubs are allowed to make certain losses every season and were given special dispensation due to COVID. But everything we’ve done passes FFP and is well within the law and completely above board. What you’re describing would be highly illegal and warrant the same kind of points deductions that City are looking at. In addition, I know that the NFL and NBA have tons of rules that prevent exactly what you’re talking about here. So, I think you’re a bit off base.
This is a big moment for PL and football. If there are no teeth in the rules, it’s the point of no return. Titles will be handed out to the highest bidder – even more so than now. Not sure there are enough cajones in the PL to take a stand, but it would be a massive statement if they stripped titles or relegated, or even dropped points. As you say, with Chelsea and Newcastle (and possibly United or Pool) getting big spending owners, there is an imminent tsunami of spending that will create an even wider separation of the have and have not clubs. I’m not optimistic, but I’m hoping it amounts to more than a fine. Fines are no deterrent. Impacting their ability to win is the only thing that can slow them down. Not a roadblock but at least a hurdle to buying titles. About all we can ask for, sadly.
I wonder if receiving a serve sanction (massive points reduction or relegation) from the Premier League would (re) spark City’s interest in (re) joining the Super League?
Not to say that scenario will happen but with Chelsea allegedly spending more in the prior window than the other top four leagues COMBINED!!! i do wonder/ worry that with the co-sign of one, maybe two, top PL teams the Super Frankenstein League will be alive.
And that beast will run wild. Across Europe and beyond.
That’s the risk for the PL if they impose a serious sanction. Will the big clubs leave the league? Chelsea and Newcastle will go in a heartbeat. And we know all the others who were ready to jump to the SuperLeague before. It’s a tough needle to thread and it’s probably inevitable that a SuperLeague gets created. Ugh.
It’s possible that the league has gone this far with an investigation because of implicit support from some large clubs. My money is on Liverpool.
If this ended with City, Newcastle and Chelsea shoving off, happy days.
This could be a watershed moment…if, if, IF.
MCFC is charged with dozens and dozens of individual violations – over a hundred, including elaborate obfuscation and outright falsifying of financial dealings. This is potential corruption of the highest (or lowest) order.
After lengthy proceeding and possible appeals, if found guilty, all they get is a version of Dean Wormer’s Double Secret Probation, then any club with the means is going drive the market into further insanity.
The Sovereign Wealth Fund of Newcastle will be emboldened to buy PSG’s front three and Bukayo Saka’s valuation of 400 million (I’m lowballing!) won’t even make them blink.
Squeaky bum time, as Alex Ferguson used to say. LA is spot on. You demonstrate the cojones to do what you know you must, or youll never be able to rein in uncontrolled spending. It cant be like this. Major US sports have sensible caps and financial checks. It’s time that football shows that it can. Yes, i know there are vast differences, like the worst teams refreshing through a draft of the top talent. It’s ironic how socialist American sport is.
My more immediate concern with Man City lies in the fixture against them on Wednesday next week. Even more so, the run of fixtures is concerning. We get Brentford at home this weekend, which could be tricky but I expect to win. Then it’s City at home on Wednesday, the only PL fixture that day. It’s sure to be emotional and exhausting no matter the outcome. Then we get Villa away from home as the early kickoff. They’ve actually been on a great run lately and Emery has a point to prove against us. They won’t be the sad sack outfit that faced us earlier this season under Gerrard. That’s going to be a difficult fixture to get all 3 points from.
I get why we didn’t look totally up for it at Everton. The games against Spurs and United, back to back, were high intensity emotional affairs. It’s nigh impossible to maintain that with the same players week after week. I wonder if Arteta will be tempted to rest the likes of Saka and Partey against Brentford now that he has viable alternates for them in the squad. We obviously can’t look past that fixture but we also have to think of the big picture: 3 big games in the span of 7 days.
I should add City away in the FA cup to that. Neither team was really at the races after the first 20 minutes or so in that one, but it was a big occasion against a big team.
Am I incorrect in understanding that most of these charges are from actions predominantly over 6-10 years ago? I think City has mostly cleaned up their act since then, so can’t see any punishments being much more than fines, they will take into consideration that the current City regime has been running the club responsibly. They bought Haaland, but sold Sterling, Jesus and Zinchenko. They bought Grealish but sold Ferran Torres. They seem to be taking a more balanced approach. And Newcastle have been surprisingly conservative with their spending. Dan Burn is the LB you buy if you have so much money?
Super League, as a supra-national European league, has to happen. If they can approach UEFA with a plan that includes promotion/relegation and abandons the franchise model of American sports, it will happen. There has to be a Ted Turner’s WCW to compete with the Premier League WWE.
City have not been acting responsibly, Josimar has raised many questions about some of the existing sponsorships and shell companies which are pumping money into the club.
https://josimarfootball.com/ghost-in-the-machine/
Thanks for sharing this. Phillipe Auclair and the journos from Josimar do solid and important stories focusing on the underbelly of the football world and it’s finances.
Auclair has spoken of 8X on Arseblog as well as Guardian:a Football Weekly.
i think seeing the way serie a dealt with juventus gave the english fa the balls to deal with manchester city. i’m not sure they’ll be relegated but a big points deduction and fines upward of £100 million would be a problem…and a wake up call to everyone else. likewise, many of those players may exercise the option to leave if city aren’t in the champions league. will they? a couple of players may leave. we’ll see.
bottom line, the english fa have to take a strong position or they’ll be viewed as biased, not only by other english clubs, but by the other leagues in uefa and the media will have a field day. i can’t see them taking that shot to their ego. once again, we’ll see what happens.
$h*tTy, chavs, psg- all the scum, should be relegated and titles stripped,
never will it happen.
If these investment vehicles leave to a super fraud then so be it, it will not have relegation.
Just a cash cow for consumers to contribute to the gluttony of the wealth funds and billionairo’s..
Salary caps are an iffy proposition too, like in the NBa you can have an owner who will just pay a luxury tax and just spend spend spend.
I highly doubt the fA has the courage to do anything, hell they can’t even protect Saka….
This case has been 4 years in the making and the PL is hyper-conscious about its brand and image. They are not doing this on a wing and a prayer.
I believe that this has real teeth but it’s going take years before a resolution, and the conclusion will be that MCFC will found guilty of many, of not all of the charges.
It may be 2026-2027 before this ends and by that time – who knows – they might just win several more trophies.