Manchester City have been charged with breaching over 100 financial rules relating to the inflation of their revenue to allow for bigger spending and the deflation of their expenditure to cover alleged payments to staff that would tip them over Financial Fair Play (FFP).
Premier League’s big-six want a stern punishment as they believe City have won titles and trophies by having an unfair edge on the competition with more spending power than their rivals. The allegations have yet to be proven, so let’s address the hypocrisy before a verdict is made.
It would be shocking if all the allegations had no founding and City avoided punishment, because all clubs look for loopholes to benefit their situation (see Chelsea last month). But why are City taking all the heat for these allegations? And why should they be expelled from the Premier League while having their titles stripped?
Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Man City and Liverpool tried to branch away into the failed European Super League and many wanted them all expelled from the top-flight. But it’s strange how they prop up FFP, which was meant to stop clubs spending outside of their means but is actually preventing smaller clubs from speedy growth.
And if the regulations are to keep clubs healthy, why are City the only big-six side posting profits each season? Man Utd are suffering yearly losses and are in debt, Liverpool are suffering year losses and are in debt, Arsenal suffered a yearly loss and are in debt, and Tottenham suffered a yearly loss and are in debt.
If the Sky Blues are found guilty, it seems more likely that they’ll receive a transfer embargo and be given a points deduction rather than losing any title or being kicked out of the top-flight. This isn’t the Serie A scandal of 2006 where match-fixing occurred over a long period of time.
A verdict won’t come quick, as City have assembled a legal team to fight the charges, so they’ll likely be able to sign and sell players freely for the next few transfer windows.
In other news, Pep Guardiola has Man City issue that managers shouldn’t have in February
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