Manchester City referred by the Premier for violations of financial rules – Corriere.it

Manchester City trembles. The defeat remedied against Antonio Conte’s Tottenham (1-0, 5 February) was not enough, with the five points away from leaders Arsenal remained unchanged (the Gunners, however, also have one game less), now the Premier against the team coached by Pep Guardiola. The English club has been deferred for a series of alleged financial violations, following a four-year investigation.

I’m in the viewfinder finished nine financial statements, from 2009-10 to 2017-18: Citizens will have to answer the allegations before an independent commission. They risk a points penalty and even exclusion from the championship. And it was the Premier itself who announced it with a press release: In accordance with rule W.82.1, it is confirmed that it has referred Manchester City for a series of alleged violations of the rules. As you can well understand the situation is very delicate. As was said now, an internal investigation commission will establish the facts. The club is alleged to have breached league rules which require the provision in good faith of accurate financial information which gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position.

If the allegations were confirmed, Manchester City would not have done so for nine seasons, from 2009 to 2018 in fact.

First violation: inflated sponsorships

The investigation born from the case of inflated sponsorships with companies from the United Arab Emirates, i.e. from the same territory of origin as the club’s ownership, which is part of the global City Football Group network owned by Sheikh Mansour. And indeed, in its press release, the Premier underlines that the club is accused of not having provided accurate financial information, in particular as regards its revenues (including sponsorship revenues), its related parties and its operating costs.

Second violation: the contract between Mancini and the players

But the alleged crimes are different. The second set of violations listed relate to the alleged violation of the rules requiring a member club to provide full details of the manager’s remuneration in the relevant contracts (period 2009-2013) an alleged violation involving the period in which the coach of the Citizens was the current national coach Roberto Mancini. Similarly, City accused of failing to provide full details of remuneration of the players in the relevant contracts this time in the period from 2010 to 2016.

Third violation: financial fair play

Furthermore, the Premier accuses Manchester City of not respecting the rules of the so-called Financial Fair Play between 2013-14 and 2017-18. In February 2020, City had been provisionally banned from UEFA competitions for two years precisely for alleged violations of the FFP regulations, but the sanction was canceled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in July of the same year.

Fourth violation: Premier League sustainability rules

The fourth series of alleged violations concerns the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules in the 2015-16 to 2017-18 seasons and finally it is alleged that the club did not cooperate with the investigation. Now the Citizens have to defend themselves. They must be presented to the Disciplinary Commission. The Premier remains not to comment further on this matter until further notice. Meanwhile, Manchester City fans are shaking.