Manchester City were the ultra-wealthy “noisy neighbours” who became the dominant force in the Premier League. But they now face an uncertain future, including the looming threat of deportation. Abu Dhabi-backed City were charged with more than 100 alleged breaches of financial rules between 2009/10 and 2017/18 by the English top flight on Monday and referred to an independent commission.
There have also been allegations of failure by the Premier League to co-operate with the investigation. The club faces a range of possible punishments, including a reprimand, points deduction or even expulsion from the Premier League.
City, which last month topped the Deloitte Money league of the world’s richest clubs, is confident they can ride out the storm, insisting there is “irrefutable” evidence supporting their case. Are. It is not the first time that the club, which has undergone a transformation on and off the pitch since its takeover by Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, has been in the limelight over financial issues.
City were fined 60 million euros ($64 million) in 2014 for breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules. The club was banned from UEFA competitions for two years by European football’s governing body in February 2020 for “serious financial fair play breaches”, but the sanction was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport later that year. Was.
Last year, City manager Pep Guardiola made it clear he would leave the club if he discovered the owners had lied to him – a worst-case scenario for City, who have won four of their last five Premier League titles. are under his leadership.
‘industrial scale’
Henry Winter, chief football writer for The Times, said that City were accused of “wrongdoing on an industrial scale…if proven, the ensuing punishment should be designed to deter those who believe that They can copy the City playbook.”
But Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at SKEMA business school in Paris, said wider issues were at play. He pointed out that the British government will soon publish a white paper – a consultation document, which could form the basis of legislation – that is expected to support the creation of an independent regulator for football.
“The Premier League is stuck between a rock and a hard place as it feels pressure by the government to take a more robust approach to finance and governance, but will also be acutely aware that the government will inevitably have to Doing the dirty work. It,” Chadwick said.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire also highlighted the political context of the government’s campaign to shake up football administration.
“The Premier League opposes an independent regulator in football and I don’t want to go down the path of a big conspiracy, but the Premier League wants to prove to all interested parties that it is capable of keeping its house in order,” he told the BBC. .
Neither Maguire nor Chadwick believed City faced a realistic prospect of relegation, with Chadwick saying the settlement was the most likely outcome of a protracted process. “If the British competitive advantage in football is not to be curtailed, you cannot send a signal to Abu Dhabi, the United States, Saudi Arabia, among others, that the UK is going to impose tougher rules on foreign investors,” he said. .
So are there wider implications for clubs that are effectively backed by the state, such as City and Paris Saint-Germain, which are owned by the Qatari? “This is the battle of our age,” said Chadwick, a domestic governing body trying to impose rules on international organizations operating across international borders, often with the support or help of state governments. english games.
“The British government and the Premier League cannot afford to influence, oppose, push away potential foreign investment during this difficult economic period, particularly after Brexit.”
He believes the end result of the Manchester City case will be one that “shows dedication on the part of the Premier League and the British Government”.
Chadwick said, “But the way it ultimately turns out is that the government and the Premier League have protected their assets and upheld certain principles of good governance.”
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