General Premier League Thread 2022-23 - mod note in OP 12/03/23

It's very similar. That Juve team had just won 9 Scudetto in a row a few years before. Bought Ronaldo when it was clear they should not have been able to afford him.

The thing to remember is that is has been over a prolonged period of time.

I can see the book being thrown at city.

The product of the premier league is far too valuable for it to have this hanging over it. No matter what anyone says City are not the draw they would like to be. The fact that the PL is basically owned by the 20 clubs competing you have to think the other 19 clubs are looking at this and saying we need to have our ducks lined up in a row and get them out for the integrity of the competition.

If they don't they run the risk of handing momentum to the Super league and the big clubs (I would hate to see it) could well jump ship thus killing the product.

IMO - City will get a penalty for each of the seasons that there was an infringement. (This can only mean stripping of titles etc). Could the stripping of titles also open the door for cases from the other clubs on loss of income? (I would think yes if they end up being docked points)

I think they will likely get relegated in the season the decision is handed down (or a massive points deduction which will effectively relegate them).

I think there could also be a transfer ban put in place.

The relegation and transfer ban will effectively be the punishment for them willfully obstructing the process.

Interesting stuff, cheers.

I'd be somewhat surprised if there was a tax issue. Rangers was different in that by the end it was clearly a seat-of-their-pants Delboy Trotter operation which needed to sail as close to the tax rules as it could, and eventually went the wrong side of them. That was the only way it could compete.

Whereas money was genuinely no object when it came to City. City had a different issue in that they were 'only' trying to hide money (oodles of it) from the football authorities which clearly isn't a criminal matter. They had no need to fiddle the taxman, and it'd quite silly if they did. No evidence yet to suggest that police/HMRC have any interest in this investigation?

Man city’s fans arguments seem to consist of whataboutery… though I have heard a few more sensible ones admit relegation is a very real possibility.

One thing that sticks in my mind is if this hacker from Portugal didn't start all this by uncovering the documents and sending them to Der Spiegel we wouldn't be here now it seems it would be business as usual. Why is that? Are the Pl and UEFA that toothless that they couldn't figure this stuff out on there own checks. If not these FFP rules are a waste of time. It reminds of Delaney. It took an anynomous letter sent to a journalist to finally uncover the nonsense that we all knew anyway. The media shouldn't be doing these guys jobs. If they can't implement the rules by themselves the rules are meaningless.

To be fair we are discussing it on here but your average football fan has no idea of financial rules and finances in football.

The major things that City are alleged to have engaged in are fairly simple to understand.

The interesting one will be the length of time it will take. Pep will be long gone I’d say and it will deprive him of his chance to walk away if it was discovered they were cheating!

Chelsea’s spending is ridiculous, but at the end of the day for them it’s a gamble, and one they used a loophole to do, which has since been closed. It might backfire on them and they certainly won’t be able to keep spending that way every year.

City falsifying their financials to spend is much worse, as they end up spending ridiculous amounts year after year, distorting the market with artificially high player valuations and salaries.

I think what Chelsea are at needs to be investigated and monitored constantly over the next few years. We don’t know the half of it with the small details and clauses involved in all those deals. I don’t believe for a second that it’s simply a medium to long term gamble and that everything out with that is above board.

Surely with the money going around everyone needs to be monitored constantly.

So far though I don't see Chelsea getting inflated sponsorship deals from the owners family or from companies that are clearly made up.

Whataboutery isn't gonna change what is happening at City.

You'll have to see if Chelsea keep spending, if this is a big splurge to cover the next few years its probably within the financial parameters. They have a big squad too so I would imagine there will be alot of outgoings in the summer.

And it will be. Chelsea will file their accounts and the PL and UEFA will look at it. They did the same with City and found serious evidence of guilt. Let’s not forget City were already found guilty by UEFA but got off on a technicality as the offences were time bound.

City should be stripped of all titles won if found guilty as they won them by cheating.

Their ex captain is at as well.

I do wonder if City will be forced to add a asterisk to their Aguero statue…..