City have won six league titles since being purchased by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008. Which made them the dominant force in English football. And yet, how did City get here? What’s City’s reaction? What are the charges against man city?
Reasons for the charges against Man City
Premier League released a statement on Monday saying it had charged City with over 100 breaches of financial rules. Which spanned the years 2009 to 2018, following a four-year investigation.
Kieran Maguire, an expert on football finances, explained that there are “two areas” in terms of fees.
To begin with, claims that Manchester City inflated its revenue, especially from commercial and sponsorship deals. In order to gain more fans support. The Premier League claims that the funds originated with the club’s owner (FFP ineligible) and were disguised as sponsorship income (FFP-eligible).
According to the other allegations, Manchester City hid the true cost of running the club by having managers sign contracts with a third party affiliated with the club’s owners.
How did City get to this point?
Leaked documents published by the German newspaper Der Spiegel in November 2018 suggested that City had inflated the value of a sponsorship deal. Which deliberately misled Uefa in order to comply with FFP rules that demand clubs break even.
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Uefa launched an investigation after the allegations surfaced and concluded that City engaged in “serious breaches” of FFP regulations. Which was between 2012 and 2016.
Later that year, however, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) reversed a two-year ban from European competitions.
In December 2018, the Premier League launched an investigation. According to City, Der Spiegel’s claims stem from “illegal hacking and out of context publication of City emails,” both of which are categorically false.
Any word from City?
City said they were “surprised” by the charges because of what they say the “extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials” they claim had been provided to the Premier League.
According to a statement, the club “welcomes the review of this matter by an independent commission” in order to “objectively consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence” in support of its position.
Therefore, we anticipate this issue being settled finally.
The city are believed to be confident in their position, including their argument that the charges against them in their Uefa case were untimely. According to them, they already gave the Premier League everything they needed to investigate the allegations.