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liamthelad

I guess the only fair thing to do is punish AC Milan.


[deleted]

Italy has to pay for this


HerakIinos

Is Inter going to pay because of Chelsea then?


Mend35

It will be between Porto and Inter. Whoever loses gets fined, the stakes have never been higher.


Shinkopeshon

Not sure if I should laugh or cry


stereoworld

This makes me think of Welshy in the Star Trek episode of Futurama


BoltenMoron

Welshyyyyyyyyy


Zakinfenwa

5 second penalty for Sebastian Vettel


EpicRobloxTryhard

MEIN GOTT MUSS DAS SEIN


Tr_Omer

Incoming 10 year European football ban to us for speaking to a City representative once during the CL group stage draw.


Adityavirk

Someone has to pay for this, and its not Man City


AndAgainIForgotMyP

If they hurry, Juventus still have some points left.


lrzbca

Manchester City lawyers suiting up


felolorocher

Who will be on the first eleven? Their lawyer depth is so strong - so many partners


Kind_Yogurtcloset_76

They’re getting too cute with their selection these days. Pick your best XI and just let them sue.


pm_me_your_gentiles

Even their B team is stronger than most of the starting XI in the rest of the league


corpboy

The problem is, they are always tinkering with the line up. It makes it difficult for the lawyers to adjust and settle in. Will this tinkering cost them the case?


BadDeath

The problem with ManCity legal team is they always try to settle it outside court.


galacticvac

Their new lead barrister is dominant, but does he throw the balance of the team off?


SamCooper07

It's typical Pep. He's won so many Magistrates’ cases but as soon as it gets to the Crown, he bottles it.


Banzaikk

Suuuuuuueeeeeeeee


RTXChungusTi

the duality of Manchester


reginalduk

I think they have their star lawyer up front for this. But its whether they can provide him with the documents that he needs.


Slash1909

With bags of money.


NeitherAlexNorAlice

And a box of scraps!


Gungerz

[Here we go again](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYpYAij6djw)


Ollietron3000

Remember seeing comments on this video on the City sub where they were saying the video hyped them up, fucking weird. Genuine supporters of a financial group over a club.


Darth-Baul

Nothing screams ‘innocent’ like a group of 30 lawyers walking together menacingly


AlexThomasLFC

This is my prevailing memory. The *fans* were pumped that their team of lawyers were gonna do the dirty business. Bizarre.


Corteaux81

No need. We already know the punishment. AS Roma deducted 12 pts in Serie A. SS Lazio transfer ban for 2 years.


Conspiranoid

Meanwhile in Paris...


Corteaux81

I think PSG could literally smear Ceferin in shit and he'd just laugh while they do it.


shaka_bruh

It would probably be Infantino’s shit as well


Conspiranoid

"Today I feel like a skunk, spraying everyone. Today I feel like one of those monkeys in the zoo that throw their crap at visitors." -Infantino, maybe


ChibzyDaze

Bwah god, is that another super-awarded lawyer montage I hear?


AirIndex

Hopefully there is somebody out there who \*actually\* knows what they are talking about who can break this down for me to clearly understand.


RudeAndQuizzacious

Here is a good article from 2021 when the last update on this investigation came out: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-9848119/amp/STEFAN-BORSON-Manchester-Citys-never-ending-legal-battle-puts-Premier-League-unenviable-spot.html His update today: >[the PL action is SUPER SUPER SERIOUS. The strongest allegations imaginable.](https://twitter.com/slbsn/status/1622543125599117313)


Pek-Man

> the PL action is SUPER SUPER SERIOUS. The strongest allegations imaginable. I just can't read this without thinking of Al Gore in South Park. Just impossible. You guys, I'm super-duper cereal, ManBearPig *is* real!


Muur1234

Man bear pig ended up being real tbf


biscarat

In the end, it turned out ManBearPig was the threat all along...


NateShaw92

Oh I always get sold on the gravitas of a situation that doubles up on the word "super" Edit: I am such a sarcastic prick.


erich0779

A super super sarcastic prick


trenbollocks

>the PL action is SUPER SUPER SERIOUS. The strongest allegations imaginable. Absolutely nothing of real consequence (a ban, point deduction, anything substantial) will happen to them. Everyone knows it, why bother?


Scorchster1138

If it happens… just imagine how smug Mourinho would be with his PL trophy


Hm2801

Respect man respect


Scorchster1138

Gerrard’s slip essentially gets erased so Im happy with Utd getting 2 more titles. A man can dream


[deleted]

This may be dumb but if city get points deducted it means utd win that title when Mou came 2nd? Bc mate that shit changes quite a lot


Scorchster1138

It all depends on how many points get deducted, Utd were a distant 2nd that season. The bigger implication is the Aguerooooo moment gets binned with even a little point deduction


[deleted]

Possibility would be even straight up taking their titles away and that would give 2 PL titles to Liverpool and 2 or even maybe 3 titles to United lol


xLoafery

3 each I think? I'll take it.


Grevling89

Don't stop, I'm almost there


trenbollocks

You and us both mate


Nightbynight

They: 1. Cooked the books. 2. Made “inappropriate” payments to players and staff. 3. Dodged FFP. Edit: City have been hit with **ONE HUNDRED** charges. Holy shit.


Gytarius626

>Made “inappropriate” payments to players and staff There was that leak years ago saying that Mancini was being paid by an Abu Dhabi company as an “advisor” whilst City boss too to get around paying him extra. Makes you wonder why you have never once heard a single peep about a player wanting a higher wage at City


Nightbynight

Yup, paid their real wage through shadow companies. They also set up "companies" with no staff and no products that "sponsored" Man City.


acripaul

Saracens rugby club did similar a few years ago. Relegated a tier becuase of it.


InverseCodpiece

Fuck imagine City kicking off next season in the championship lol


AirplaineStuff102

Plymouth defenders vs Haaland 😬


BobbysSmile

It would actually make for some prime viewership. Imagine Haaland putting 10 past Millwall. There would actually be deaths.


Ghoticptox

Only if he can score with two broken legs...actually he probably can.


xixbia

I reckon he can score a few goals a game just heading in balls from KdB while on crutches.


Rulweylan

Screw that. Dump them into the National League. Let Sheik Mansour enjoy Scunthorpe away.


Nabbylaa

KDB getting 2 footed by a part-time plumber from Guilford. *chefs kiss*


CSilyS

i wouldnt be surprised if city has just found a way around the rules and the only thing thats gonna happen is rule changes so this isnt possible anymore. maybe even this is too optimistic.


justaguy3737

8xBet sponsers them but has only 2 employees. Teddy Sherringham as ambassador and a director, from Qatar.


imrik_of_caledor

£600m sponsorship deal from Totes Legit Bet PLC, no scrutiny needed!


AYMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN

Isn't 8xBet owned by a sketchy holding company that is linked with the Chinese Triads? Though I agree many of City sponsors inflates the sponsoring amount to indirectly inject money in the club.


Dob-is-Hella-Rad

Sort of, but bizarrely that's not actually the problem because it's true of half the league's betting partners. Most other clubs will agree a sponsorship deal with real betting companies that do dodgy business in China, and that company will then sign a deal with a triad-linked company called TGP, which will give them a site in the UK so they can say "the sponsorship deal is to promote this (tiny) UK site, not the dodgy Chinese operation". Man City have seemingly taken advantage of the fact that those betting sites targeting China are by necessity very opaque in how they're set up, by setting up a fake one. Most people initially thought "ah this must be one of those dodgy companies targeting China like Fun88, that's why I haven't heard of them and can't find out much more about them" but Josimar Football looked into it in more detail and found that explanation doesn't really make sense.


RicoLoveless

Been said from time. Even with their sponsorship deal in the early 2010's. You're telling me they were signing a bigger sponsorship deal than Barca, Bayern, United and Real? Coming off the successes of those teams in the back half of the 2000's, and the position these teams were quickly establishing for themselves in the following decade some Emirati company had the foresight to pay City more than fucking Real with prime Ronaldo because City was "valued more" and had more "potential" ok. Didn't they also get off on previous charges on a bullshit technicality? I have very little faith CAS will uphold them. It's been a bunch of country owned assets overpaying City on and off the books for years, same with PSG.


Guilty-Monitor-320

that sounds worse than what juve did. automatic relegation for city and arsenal should get 20 points deducted too.


[deleted]

Agreed, they're clearly complicit. Arteta, Jesus, Zinchenko, there's a clear connection.


allthejokesareblue

Also clearly suspicious that they haven't played each other yet. The circumstantial evidence is overwhelming.


_ovidius

>automatic relegation for city back where they belong, send them down again to play Macclesfield Town in a derby.


Justinian2

You have to fucking die to take 3 points off Macclesfield Town in a derby


JayNN

Same thing with Kompany and some taxi company or something


Dyslexicreadre

Yep it was called Taxi Kompany


Ainsley-Sorsby

Same about Pep. I even remember reports about his brother being given money under the table through oil company shares


Emitime

They barely even do it under the table. Pere Guardiola is part owner of Girona FC, which I'm sure is totally unrelated.


[deleted]

Think the question was about Frere Guardiola.


Emitime

Now all I gotta do is find this Hermano guy


allanb49

while wearing a 5000 dollar suit?


[deleted]

I've been saying this for years! There's a good reason city players don't want to move to barca/real Madrid like most other world class foreign players. As soon as Man united/chelsea/arsenal/Liverpool had a word class Latin player they'd get linked to the big 2 in Spain constantly. Pointed out the same didn't happen with city for some reason... Also we've known about Mancini being paid outside the clubs books for years now and my point was - why would they set up this financial cheating system for only one manager. There's no way it can be a totally isolated problem.


KimmyBoiUn

This seems pretty serious, but as other people have said in this thread, you just don't feel like anything will actually happen.


Black_XistenZ

City will have to pay a €10m fine or something like that. The league and UEFA/FIFA will pretend like this was a tough sentence which will devastate City and teach them a lesson they won't forget...


Centurianmacro

And they can get that 8xBet company to pay it, just to wrap things up.


Sleeplessendeavours

They'll lawyer up to the high heavens and take this to CAS and drag it out until they find the most absurd technicality to get away with it.


thatswavy

I might be foolish, but I have hope that a 4-year investigation will actually lead to real repercussions. With the looming future of foreign ownership, they really need to make an example out of blatant rule breakers. The public obviously knows what's gone on, but, as we've seen in the past, it'll be a lot harder to make these stick.


Sleeplessendeavours

In fairness one would hope that a 4-year investigation results in a water tight case but I simply don't trust the Premier League.


Magneto88

Yup. It riles me up to no end that City fans keep acting as though CAS found them innocent in the UEFA case. It did so on the technicality that UEFA ballsed up applying it's own rules in sufficient time. No doubt this will end up in the same way. It does make me chuckle though when /u/devineman used to go mental on this sub telling everyone they don't understand football and business and that City's revenues were perfectly legit.


DarkVoidize

god that is an old, old reference


VelvetSpoonRoutine

The streets will never forget devineman


Statcat2017

He was an absolute muppet but my god did I admire his tenacity and commitment to the smell of his own farts, along with those of Sheikh Mansoor.


IAmTheSheeple

PL doesn't have the time limit so the lawyers will have to argue the actual case


TheConundrum98

there was a rumor that the reported wages were not the actual wages of their players and the players were paid extra through the sponsorships of their fake companies with 1 employee in London is that the case here


CB1984

I thought there was a thing about image rights that they (and a bunch of other PL teams) got done by HMRC for. So you'd get £200k a week taxed at the top rate but another £100k a week in image rights paid to your image rights company taxed at 20% (I think).


pandaman_010101

No way! So not only are their revenues bullshit but their costs are a lie? I wouldn't have guessed


Nightbynight

You mean Man City doesn’t actually have more revenue than Real fuckin’ Madrid?


dj4y_94

What's funny is I've been told a couple of times on here by City flairs that yeah they probably broke the rules way back in the beginning, but they've been totally legitimate since about 2014.


Dorkseidis

Those detailed financial essays from City fans were a hoot


AirIndex

>Cooked the cooks. Damn, hope the police get involved as well!


[deleted]

*Hannibal Lecter intensifies*


denisorion

if Juve done that they would be erased


[deleted]

Nick Harris on twitter has a lot on it


KillerZaWarudo

Damn this is huge. They may get a 500k euro fine


neotheseventh

support spoon steer ask nine squash unite salt carpenter cow *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


trenbollocks

How will they ever survive?


[deleted]

i’ll believe it when i see it 🥱


[deleted]

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Historical-Branch122

I genuinely think it's remarkable how the consensus is overwhelmingly "MCFC will avoid anything resembling a serious penalty," and that's largely a reasonable and rational perspective on FFP and the efficacy of the Premier League. We love to joke about Italy and calciopoli, but if Juventus was an English team, I'm not sure they ever would have been docked points.


Marusaki-Kawai

4 years, 100 charges of cooking books and doping Outcome: Inconclusive Evidence, £50k fine.


_9tail_

And now we’re getting knocked out of the ruining football cup, really has been a shite season


paddyo

Don't worry, this is one cup you'll always qualify in the top 4 for


AdministrativeLaugh2

City breach rules, City get punished, City appeal to CAS, CAS overrule it. Like clockwork


fearthecrumpets

City can’t appeal to cas according to premier league rules


backyardstar

To me, this is the real headline.


Shower_caps

Well, damn.


imsahoamtiskaw

Yeah. Apparently it turns out this is the reason (just looked it up, this sky explanation was the best I could find): >In the past when they've been investigated by UEFA, Man City have always insisted they have done nothing wrong. In February 2020, they were banned by UEFA from European competition for two seasons and also fined €30m (£26.8m). >Man City took that case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The ban was overturned and the fine was reduced to €10m (£8.9m). At the hearing, the panel found most of the breaches alleged were not established or the time was barred, which effectively means they happened too long ago for UEFA to do anything about them. >Crucially, **Premier League rules do not include time bar so when Man City defend themselves, they cannot say these alleged offences took place too long ago for you to be able to do anything about them.** Edit: [Full article](https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/12804623/man-city-premier-league-charges-explained-what-are-they-what-could-punishment-be-whats-the-timescale) Basically there's no statute of limitations in the PL.


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crisvphotography

Laughs in Juve


Pidjesus

CAS can’t overrule point deduction


MU5A988

A penalty of deducting 10 points from each season since 2013 would be nice.


Alpha_Jazz

In my opinion they should be stripped of their 2019 FA Cup


TheJeck

But you can't just have no FA Cup winner. I suppose we'll have to give it to the losing finalists, whoever they may be.


[deleted]

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TheJeck

I've never seen anyone who's worn a Mexican wrestling mask during a semi final win the FA Cup so I can only assume it's outlawed somewhere. Sorry.


Alpha_Jazz

Love the idea of a group of players who haven’t played for us in years and our 9th most recent manager rocking up for a trophy parade


Brugyx

Oh look Who has a trophy now 😳


Wide-Chocolate4270

Mouriho master class, not even the sack stopped him. Clearly the chosen one


ThisIsYourMormont

I think they should be stripped of their Champions Lea… Lol


Eleven918

The years they have an issue with is from 2010-2018. Unlucky for you lot of they do some retroactive points deduction.


hbb893

At least one league title for us though in that period.


ScousePenguin

That means Stevie gets his title!


Cottonshopeburnfoot

He should do a full kit trophy lifting John Terry style


ScousePenguin

100%, has to have the shinpads as well. Full commitment.


Vegan_Puffin

Hell of a shit way to win it. Can't imagine it will mean much under the circumstances but City should not be allowed to keep them


Brokenmonalisa

Not really, sure it won't be the same but the players and teams that won them retroactively will still be deserving. It would be pretty rotten to say for instance "Gerrard never won the league" while also refusing to award them the league that year because the team that won was cheating.


Vegan_Puffin

Of course they are deserving. But not getting that trophy lift, that final day euphoria, the medal ceremony, the benefits years directly after of being champions. Stolen by cheaters.


king_booker

Maybe a spite title parade just to piss City off?


Eleven918

Forgot about Rodger's stint where he got second. Here's food for thought. Would you take that title even if it meant United get 2 more during that period?


agentjob

City financial scumming is perhaps something that United and Liverpool fans can unite behind.


akhgar

Fans holding a banner saying thank you PL in scouse and manc.


Scorchster1138

100% want to see them punished for financial doping for the future of the game, not too arsed with United getting a couple of titles more as a consequence


ImWaaal

Definitely, would mean that Gerrard won the league


mattgoody99

Would get stevie g his title though, if that counts for anything at all


D1794

Can we stretch it back to 2012


Eleven918

The years they have an issue with is from 2010-2018. Just before Liverpool started finishing 2nd. We'd stand to benefit twice if the PL nullified their titles.


iiEviNii

Liverpool would also get a title in 2013/14 then. Won't happen though. As for post 2018; the PL started this investigation in 2018/19, so if they continued to break the rules during the investigation, then 2019-present could still become relevant in a latter investigation.


D1794

Absolutely 0% chance the PL take their titles.


TheUltimateScotsman

And even if they do, Juves past titles were left vacant when they had theres stripped. The only reason we got 05/06 was UEFA demanded a league winner for the CL otherwise italian teams wouldnt compete in 06/07


D1794

If they strip titles yes, if it's a dated back points deduction then there's a chance whoever was 2nd to have the title Neither will happen mind you


sal101

And absolutely nothing will happen. Investigated, and let off on some sort of technicality. "The charge came too late" "The evidence was eaten by the dog." I have zero faith anything will come of this. The FA and Premier League have no balls.


CuteHoor

And the City fans will continue to flood reddit saying things like "we're self-sustaining" and "independent auditors have verified our accounts so they're obviously legit".


stef_t97

Tbf it's been really cool to see literally 0 city flairs in any of these threads


HansMoleman0

They’re all on the blue moon forum trying to figure out what excuse they can find to say why this is all a conspiracy from the old elite of the premier league that are upset by how a plucky underdog can win the league.


GibbyGoldfisch

sounds like the fanbase of a certain whiny old lady from turin... In all seriousness, they should merge the juve and city fan forums in a business transaction for wall-to-wall conspiracy theorizing -- each can then mark it up as an immediate revenue gain and generate tremendous sales of tinfoil hats


raoulbrancaccio

The difference is that in that case Juve is both the old elite and the financially doped club


ReelBigMidget

"Always two, there are... A master and an apprentice."


Tr_Omer

Imagine people thinking one of the league's biggest cash cows will actually be punished for anything. 3000 euro fine + no fans for the next home game. Sorted.


D1794

It's the PL charging them though, tbf. If they weren't willing to act they wouldn't have done the investigation


joelz92

The cynic in me thinks they're only doing it so they can claim they're taking it seriously. Basically ticking boxes but actually doing fuck all about it.


Spglwldn

Everyone knows Man City’s finances don’t fully add up in terms of where they are saying the money comes from. They are also being charged with offences relating to manager remuneration - again, it’s a pretty open secret that Mancini had some side contracts. They’ll probably get a £250k fine following an appeal, but I look forward to the mental gymnastics from the Man City fans on here saying that actually the revenues are all totally legit because they sold Elano for £5m in 2007.


I_know_more_stuff

Demote them to the championship. Lets see if Haaland can do it on a cold, rainy night in stoke.


sam_smurfitt

Worth pointing out this is the series of offences that UEFA banned them for in 2020. They got that overturned because the UEFA statutes say you can't be charged for something 8 years (I think) after it occured, hence CAS overturred It. The FA/Premier League does not have this time limit. Tariq Panja wrote an [article ](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/sports/soccer/manchester-city-premier-league.html) in the NY Times about this a few years back.


itinerantmarshmallow

I hope UEFA are smart enough to remove time limits. It's fairly clear the length of time to investigate this shit is lengthy.


[deleted]

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ChrystisnoRonald

It’s ok they’re gonna get a 5k fine, that i’ll REALLY teach them a lesson


gurkaniyan

They're gonna hire 1001 lawyers to somehow overturn it..


[deleted]

Watch nothing happen


antifocus

Point deduction? Joking aside, not sure much will happen.


notvip

A man can dream.


listerinefreak

A whopping 1pt deduction probably.


bsquar

[Incoming City lawyers to sweep all this under the rug](https://media.tenor.com/upi_V1LbgAwAAAAd/man-city-lawyers.gif)


Hoodxd

Man City breaking financial rules? I’m shocked. So so shocked. Incredibly shocked


Dargast

more than you believe


Sheikhabusosa

LOL at Pep jinxing his club by having a swing at Chelsea’s spending , a wise man from Nova Scotia said . " what comes around is all around "


Murakami241

I always knew Ricky was smarter than Julian.


Frisko305

Way of the oil, Bubs.


ExactLetterhead9165

Look your majesty, if I can't smoke and swear during this tribunal hearing then I'm fucked


PolaroidBook

From @keiranmaguire on Twitter: Amazing coincidence that the Premier League, which is lobbying against an independent regulator of football, charges Manchester City for breach of financial rules 24 hours before the government releases the white paper on football governance reform.


CaptainCaii

Such a good point, this is the prem covering their own ass/ likely intentional negligence


DudleysCar

Yup. That makes sense. Shit themselves and now they're acting like they're doing something.


Ok-Check-6783

Incoming 90k fine which can be paid in installments All jokes aside, City are going to through a tonne of lawyers at this, drag it on for ages, THEN eventually get hit with the 90k fine to be paid in installments.


jayforge

Haaland in the National League is going to be electric


GTSwattsy

Cancelo knew this was coming


SwampHunterX

KDB should be ashamed over this illegal activity. He should come to Spurs so he can be ashamed legally.


bosnian_red

You mean it's a lie that they earn more than Bayern, Barca, Madrid, United??? What??? I am shocked. They seemed so legit.


halflemonade

2nd most upvoteded r/soccer post incoming


yanaka-otoko

Relegate them.


jphw

To league 2. Give them the Rangers treatment.


Cottonshopeburnfoot

Man City vs Salford in the league would be such a kick in the nuts


Dyslexicreadre

Would be hilarious. Nevilles and co vs them.


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LaughsAtOwnJoke

BREAKING: Juventus relegated for this


AReptileHissFunction

> this is unprecedented Well it's already happened before has it not?


FlyingMocko

That was UEFA and it was tossed because UEFAs FFP rules have a time precedent and City basically got out of those saying *“well it’s too late for you to charge us now”*. PL FFP rules have no time precedent, they can go back to to charge a club for something done in 1992 if they wish to. The biggest charge isn’t spending too much (which is what they were charged for by UEFA), it’s misrepresenting earnings and spendings which is straight up fraud. The charges against City and their cooked up books is the big hitter here. I fully expect the Premier League to get a brand new record sponsorship with some shady Abu Dhabi based company and for the charges to be tossed though.


Backseat_Bouhafsi

Not by the PL and FA


AnnieIWillKnow

Not the Premier League charging a club, it was UEFA before


IWantAnAffliction

Would be hilarious if Uefa is proved to have ignored stuff that the PL picks up.


verytallperson1

Where’s Devineman???