Sportswash! - Let’s oil stare at Manchester City!

[duke313]

The worrying thing about this whole shitshow, is that if Man City don't get punished or just get a slap on the wrist, it basically gives Newcastle free reign to do what they want. If they go down hard on City, it will curb Newcastle's spending hopefully. 

[HanoiVillan]

12 hours ago, Jono62 said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65690461

You may want to, but City certainly don't. Urgh, I hate him. I bet he said it in that arrogant fashion he does as well.

Quite amusing for him to claim this. In reality, City are currently in the midst of launching a spurious objection to the composition of the judging panel on the basis that one of the members is an Arsenal fan, something they are very clearly doing purely to waste time. 

[The_Steve]

A cynic would suggest that Pep is putting undue pressure and influence on the proceedings for a more favourable outcome

[villa89]

6 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

A cynic would suggest that Pep is putting undue pressure and influence on the proceedings for a more favourable outcome

To be fair to the process, it's an independent panel that shouldn't be influenced by anyone from the premier league. However the legal team that Man City have assembled will be much, much bigger and better prepared than anything the premier league can afford so I expect a watered down "punishment" that will be glossed over. 

[HanoiVillan]

1 hour ago, Genie said:

I don’t think City are particularly popular as a club amongst other clubs. I don’t see them rallying round them to get a Super League off the ground or even voicing disappointment at any punishment they might get.

City can’t afford to fall out with the Premier League, they don’t have the power here imo. Where are they going to go if they try and boycott the PL?

City's power is very simple; they are merely an outpost of the government of the United Arab Emirates. And as such, any serious punishment will be complained about to our government. And our government will prioritise buying oil and gas and selling helicopter gunships over the sporting integrity of a footballing competition.

This is the inevitable consequence of letting states buy football clubs; now football rules are an aspect of bilateral foreign policy. 

[The_Steve]

3 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

City's power is very simple; they are merely an outpost of the government of the United Arab Emirates. And as such, any serious punishment will be complained about to our government. And our government will prioritise buying oil and gas and selling helicopter gunships over the sporting integrity of a footballing competition.

This is the inevitable consequence of letting states buy football clubs; now football rules are an aspect of bilateral foreign policy. 

Like how the Boris Johnson government directly lobbied for the Saudi takeover. All we need is a few MPs to speak in favour of them and it will further undermine the whole process. Probably why the French state would never go after PSG either. 

[HanoiVillan]

2 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

Like how the Boris Johnson government directly lobbied for the Saudi takeover. All we need is a few MPs to speak in favour of them and it will further undermine the whole process. Probably why the French state would never go after PSG either. 

Exactly so. 

[Zatman]

Could the Premier League clubs not just vote to kick them out?

I dont think other clubs woukd breakaway with them and City Harlem Globetrotters tour would last a year ar most before people got bored

[duke313]

2 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Could the Premier League clubs not just vote to kick them out?

I dont think other clubs woukd breakaway with them and City Harlem Globetrotters tour would last a year ar most before people got bored

I don't think any English clubs would join them, maybe Chelsea with Bohely in charge.

[Tommo_b]

Be interesting to see what’s changed since 2018 to now. Surely they would’ve still been cooking the books up until February knowing that they got away with the UEFA case. 

[bobzy]

40 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Could the Premier League clubs not just vote to kick them out?

I dont think other clubs woukd breakaway with them and City Harlem Globetrotters tour would last a year ar most before people got bored

Do you think the owners of the other clubs even really care?

[Zatman]

4 minutes ago, bobzy said:

Do you think the owners of the other clubs even really care?

Have 5 of the last 7 titles I think. I imagine United, Liverpool and Arsenal for a start. Us, Spurs and Newcastle would benefit too

And other clubs are losing out on money from there cheating

[delboy54]

18 minutes ago, Tommo_b said:

Be interesting to see what’s changed since 2018 to now. Surely they would’ve still been cooking the books up until February knowing that they got away with the UEFA case. 

That is a really good point, if they have been fiddling, and the investigation is only up to 2018, then what has stopped them from fiddling x10 since 2018 knowing that from 2018it will not be part of the investigation

[Genie]

34 minutes ago, bobzy said:

Do you think the owners of the other clubs even really care?

City are cheating the title and all the cup competitions.

Oh well, second is still alright…  

[HanoiVillan]

Call me a cynic if you like, but I suspect it's a bit naive to think that 14 Premier League owners might want to set a precedent of 'be found to have broken FFP, be expelled from the league'. 

[HanoiVillan]

The most 'just' punishment in a world with no realpolitik would be to force the owners to sell. To give them time to do that in an orderly fashion, you could tell them that the Premier League won't accept Manchester City's registration for the 2024/25 season unless there has been a change in ownership, to a non-related party. The advantages of this approach are:

• It's clearly possible, since the mechanism would work and we have recent proof that the league and government working in tandem can force the sale of a club (Chelsea);
• It punishes the people responsible (the owners) rather than players or fans (of course the fans would experience it as an attack on them, but it isn't);
• It doesn't involve pointless non-punishments like fines or points deductions, and is forward-focused on cleaning the league up in the future rather than asterisks in history books and scrubbed titles

There's no chance it will happen though, or even be considered. 

[bobzy]

Just now, Genie said:

City are cheating the title and all the cup competitions.

Oh well, second is still alright…  

If Man City are "not guilty" or have no punishment then FFP is proven to be blitzed as a farce and owners can pump in all the money they like.

Sure, clubs have come 2nd or 3rd or 4th or whatever - but does an owner of a club really care about titles?  I reckon they're more interested in the financials, personally.

[bobzy]

5 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

Call me a cynic if you like, but I suspect it's a bit naive to think that 14 Premier League owners might want to set a precedent of 'be found to have broken FFP, be expelled from the league'. 

Bingo.

[Davkaus]

3 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

The most 'just' punishment in a world with no realpolitik would be to force the owners to sell. To give them time to do that in an orderly fashion, you could tell them that the Premier League won't accept Manchester City's registration for the 2024/25 season unless there has been a change in ownership, to a non-related party. The advantages of this approach are:

• It's clearly possible, since the mechanism would work and we have recent proof that the league and government working in tandem can force the sale of a club (Chelsea);
• It punishes the people responsible (the owners) rather than players or fans (of course the fans would experience it as an attack on them, but it isn't);
• It doesn't involve pointless non-punishments like fines or points deductions, and is forward-focused on cleaning the league up in the future rather than asterisks in history books and scrubbed titles

There's no chance it will happen though, or even be considered. 

Even something as "extreme" as this not only leaves them with their historic honours (which as you allude to, asterisks don't achieve much anyway) but it also leaves them at the top of european football much more easily able to attract another owner with grotesque wealth able to keep them in their position that was gained via cheating. There's no undoing their market value being unfairly inflated for years, or their unfairly gained fanbase, infrastructure, squad and prestige. 

Everything Man City do is built upon their previous corruption and cheating, and there's no putting this genie back in the bottle

[Genie]

12 minutes ago, bobzy said:

If Man City are "not guilty" or have no punishment then FFP is proven to be blitzed as a farce and owners can pump in all the money they like.

Sure, clubs have come 2nd or 3rd or 4th or whatever - but does an owner of a club really care about titles?  I reckon they're more interested in the financials, personally.

Does a billionaire care about winning? I think that’s a strong yes. It’s what they live for.

I think it’s almost a certainty City won’t get off all the charges.