The Premier League yesterday accused Manchester City of violating financial fair play as many as one hundred times in the period from 2008 to 2018.
After a four-year investigation, the Premier League charged City and referred the case to an independent commission. The allegations relate to financial information related to revenue, manager and player payments, UEFA regulations, profitability and sustainability, as well as cooperation with the competition's investigative bodies.
City spoke out immediately after the allegations saying they were surprised by the publication of "alleged breaches of Premier League rules".
Sky has embarked on an analysis of these events, which in an extensive text presents all the data obtained by the Premier League and analyzes potential penalties.
WHAT ARE THE CHARGES IN QUESTION
As mentioned, Manchester City has been accused of violating financial fair play as many as 2008 times from 2018 to 100. When it comes to financial fair play, it means that the club is encouraged to spend only as much money as it earns. This rule can be circumvented by clubs "inflating" revenues and not showing real figures.
According to the Premier League, City broke that rule. The current champion did not provide accurate information and did not fully disclose the financial compensation that was paid to "one manager". And that manager, writes the German "Spiegel", is Roberto Mancini, who led "Citizens" from 2009 to 2013. The Italian, during his stay at City, earned 1,6 million euros, but also an additional 1,9 as an adviser to Al Jazeera from the United Arab Emirates.He had the obligation to train four times a year in the club from the Emirates.
Mancini's company "Italy International Services" sent quarterly invoices to Manchester City, who would send the money to the Abu Dhabi United group, run by City owner Sheikh Mansour. Then that group transferred the money to Al Jazeera, which paid it to Mancini.
"Spiegel" writes that Mancini had a bonus of 4,5 million euros for winning the Premier League title in 2012, and he was promised 3,3 million for the Champions League cup. City failed to win the European title.
Mancini was also provided with flights for himself and his family, accommodation, tickets for home matches and the like. In 2009, Mancini succeeded Mark Hughes on the City bench, and he led the team until 2013.
The Premier League also states that Manchester City did not fully cooperate during the investigation.
Siti always insisted that he did everything according to the laws. In 2020, when Uefa fined City with a two-year ban from playing in Europe and 30 million euros for violating financial fair play, the English club appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. The ban was overturned, and the fine was reduced to 10 million euros. At that time, the Council concluded at the hearing that there were no violations or that the statute of limitations for those accusations had occurred.
The Premier League knows no statute of limitations, so City cannot invoke it.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE RULES OF UEFA AND THE PREMIER LEAGUE
Football finance expert, Kieran Maguire, in an interview with Sky highlights the important differences between UEFA and the Premier League.
"The main difference is that UEFA knows the statute of limitations, which limits the availability of evidence to five years. The Premier League does not. Also, UEFA has a rule to look at where the evidence comes from - whether from legal or illegal sources, unlike the Premier League. That City on can use the trial to say that the Premier League obtained irrelevant evidence from non-credible sources. Although, I doubt that the Premier League will present such evidence to the Independent Commission, because they obtained it through the 'Football Leaks' affair thanks to hackers," explains Maguire.
WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL PENALTIES
Under Premier League rules, City can be kicked out of the Premier League, but in this case it would be an extreme punishment. Also, points may be deducted from him in the current season.
The independent commission can also expel the club, take away its points, but also recommend that the matches in the Premier League be repeated, which is really impossible.
City can be suspended, pay damages, be banned from registering players, but also receive a suspended sentence or pay costs.
Sky writes that this investigation has been going on for four years and that it is unlikely that the epilogue will be known quickly.
WILL THE PUBLIC BE AWARE OF THE PROCESS
The rules of the Premier League are clear - proceedings before the Independent Commission will be closed to the public, and the final verdict will be published on the Premier League website.
HOW THE INVESTIGATION BEGAN
It all started five years ago when the German "Spiegel" published an investigation based on the work of the Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto, who hacked the e-mail addresses of numerous clubs and agents. It was after that that Uefa launched an investigation into Manchester City, and then the Premier League.
City released a statement yesterday saying they were "surprised by the publication of the alleged breaches of Premier League rules, particularly given the high level of involvement and the vast amount of detailed material we provided to the EPL."
The Club welcomes consideration of this issue by an independent Commission, "to impartially consider the comprehensive body of incontrovertible evidence that exists in support of our position."
"Therefore, we look forward to putting an end to this issue forever," City said in a statement.
CAN SITI COMPLAIN?
The independent commission will be formed by three members, who will be chosen by Murray Rosen, the chairman of the Premier League Judicial Council.
Any of the 15 members of the Judicial Council can be elected to the three-member commission.
When the verdict is handed down, Manchester City can appeal, but not to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.
Then Rozen will appoint the appeal panel, which will include new members.
"Manchester City has an obligation to respect the commission's procedure. If it does not respect it, the opinion will be clearly known.
WHAT COULD IT MEAN FOR OTHER PREMIER LEAGUE CLUBS
This case could have an impact on other teams in the Premier League.
"A year ago there was talk of Burnley and Leeds taking legal action against Everton over financial dealings, but that didn't happen. Everyone will be watching this process with huge interest and once the Independent Commission makes a decision, things will take their course." , Maguire told Sky.
GUARDIOLA: I TRUST THE CLUB 100 PERCENT
In May last year, City manager Pep Guardiola explained why he defended the club when City were under investigation by UEFA for fair play violations.
"I really, really believe the club. Why did I defend the club and the employees? Because I cooperate with them. When they are accused of something I ask them to explain it to me and I believe them. I told them 'if you lie to me, I won't be here tomorrow' "I will leave and they will no longer be my friends. I trust them 100 percent from the first day," Guardiola said at the time.
We will see how the Spaniard will react now.
CITY'S FIGURES
September 2008: Abu Dhabi United Group agrees to take over the club. On the same day, City broke the club record and brought Robinho from Real Madrid for 32,5 million pounds
December 2009: Roberto Mancini succeeded Mark Hughes and became City's new manager.
May 2011: City beat Stoke in the FA Cup final and won the trophy for the first time since 1976.
May 2012: Sergio Aguero scores a goal at the end of the match against KPR and brings the club the title, the first since 1968.
May 2013: Mancini was fired, the new manager is Manuel Pellegrini, who won the title with City in 2014.
July 2016: City's new manager is Pep Guardiola. A new chapter begins.
May 2018: City wins the Premier League with a record number of points, goals scored and wins.
May 2019: City became the first team to win all four trophies on the Island.
May 2021: City reached the final of the Champions League for the first time in the club's history, in which they were defeated by Chelsea.
May 2022: City have won 17 trophies since 2008 when the Abu Dhabi United Group took over the club - they have finished top of the Premier League six times, the FA Cup twice, the League Cup six times and the Community Shield three times.
HOW SITI "GROWN"
Record club revenues of £613 million and profits of £42 million for the 2021/2022 season.
In January, the club was in first place among the richest teams in terms of revenue and finished ahead of Real Madrid for the second year in a row.
City have spent 2008 billion euros on reinforcements since 2,38, according to Transfermarkt data
In the summer of 2021, he broke the Premier League record and brought Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for 100 million pounds.
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