Reactions as Man City found guilty of 114 financial rule breaches
Reactions have continued to trail the reports of Manchester City’s being found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League over alleged financial breaches.
According to reports in the British media, The verdict was delivered by an independent commission following a lengthy investigation into the club’s finances between 2009 and 2018.
Manchester City were found guilty of 114 charges, while one charge was dismissed.
The Premier League brought the case against City in February 2023 after a four-year investigation into alleged breaches of its financial regulations.
The charges covered nine seasons and included allegations relating to the provision of accurate financial information, as well as the club’s financial dealings.
The 115 charges comprised 54 relating to financial information, 14 concerning player and manager payments, five involving UEFA regulations including Financial Fair Play rules, seven concerning Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules and 35 relating to alleged failures to co-operate with the investigation.
While no official announcement from the Premier League, Man City released a statement on Friday reacting to the verdict by the Independent commission.
The statement reads: “The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality. As such Manchester City FC’s position remains consistent with the club’s statement of February 2023.
“The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.”
According to Premier League rules, the sanction could be a points deduction, a fine or even expulsion from the Premier League.
Read Also: Six players to watch out for as Super Eagles begins AFCONQ series
Former Manchester United defender, Rio Ferdinand joked that another Premier League medal could be added to his cabinet.
He wrote on X: “Another Premier League medal to be added to the cabinet. Yooooooo Premier League… happy for the 7th medal to be sent in the post.”
Similarly, football fans also took to social media to react to the news.
Man City fan, David Mooney, described the charges as strange in an interview on Blue Moon podcast.
He said: “It’s really strange. We just don’t know anything at the moment about where this is going to go.
“On the one hand you’ve got this great enjoyment from the team you have supported all your life winning unprecedented success and playing football like we’ve never seen before, but having in the back of your mind that everybody thinks we have cheated to do this and everybody thinks this is illegitimate and that it hasn’t been fairly achieved.”
Adam Crafton wrote on X: “Fascinating repercussions now for the Premier League as a whole. Do broadcasters care that what they’ve been showing for the past 15 years wasn’t real? Do clubs, coaches and player care that their chances of success were unfairly disadvantaged? Just the start.”
Miguel Delaney described it as a Seismic day for English football.
He wrote on X: “Seismic for English football. Manchester City were, in effect, accused of corporate fraud. Accused of breaching PSR and UEFA FFP on several occasions. Accused of not providing accurate player/manager payment details. Accused of not cooperating.”
Eduardo Hagn wrote: “I think it would be very extreme to strip titles from Manchester City but at the very least, they should be relegated from the Premier League and banned for more than 3 transfer windows.”
Read Also: Ex-Eagles captain Troost-Ekong converts to Islam
Mixed zone wrote on X: “This is a testament to how incredibly hard it is to win the premier league, let alone dominate. City had to cheat almost a 115 times to maintain this level at the premier league. We need to start commending a bit more, teams that did it organically.”
Mr Kaptain wrote: “You don’t need to understand accounting before one will know city were cheating the kind of players they sign almost every year and the salary and bonus they were paying no other club can match that and there sponsors deals were outrageous I wonder how Valuable they became.”
Richard Keys wrote: “The bottom line is Manchester City owe English football an apology. They cheated & warped our game. I know it’s nothing to do with the guys on the pitch but most of them wouldn’t have been there if City had played by the rules. Their achievements feel very hollow right now.”
In a related development, Premier League clubs are planning legal action in response to Manchester City being found guilty on almost all the charges relating to breaches of the league’s financial regulations.
Several teams mobilised leading lawyers some time ago to ascertain what they may be eligible to claim for, and a number of clubs are talking to each other about this.
According to the Athletic, It could turn out to be a class action, with the other Premier League sides coming together as ONE to seek damages.
Some clubs, for example, may seek to claim that they failed to qualify for the lucrative Champions League due to Manchester City’s rule-breaking, as well as being able to show they missed out on potential sponsorship bonuses as a further consequence.
