Just when you thought you couldn’t hate Man City any more than you do now, their ‘legal assault‘ In the Premier League.
The club, which is facing 115 charges from the same agency, is in effect demanding financial compensation, saying it has been denied access to revenue due to related party transaction regulations. The rule, voted on by all clubs in the Premier League, is aimed at preventing sponsors linked to club owners from paying in excess of the odds. ‘Fair market value’ must be assessed.
For example, imagine that I am a nation-state or oligarchy with enormous wealth at its disposal. I bought Arsenal. I have a company in my portfolio to provide Arsenal with income that can be used for transfers, especially wages/compensation of players and staff, and this company becomes a sponsor of the club. Aside from the fact that the company has signed a contract that pays much more than any other company, this is basically just a way of infusing cash into Arsenal without explicitly taking cash out of the owners’ pockets.
But Manchester City, who already face 115 charges, claim this is unfair. Now, that’s not to say they’ve never done something like that, but they’re claiming ‘discrimination’ and that they’re being subjected to ‘tyranny of the majority.’ at Times article (£) yesterday:
The city argues that sponsors linked to the club’s owners in Abu Dhabi should be able to decide how much they will pay, regardless of an independent valuation. Four of City’s top 10 sponsors have ties to the United Arab Emirates, including stadium and shirt sponsor Etihad Airways.
Using words like tyranny is certainly quite a stretch, and City themselves, with 115 charges due to be decided at a hearing in November, are little more than that. Again from The Times:
City claim the current rules will limit their ability to buy their best players and force them to charge fans more for tickets. They say they may also need to cut spending on youth development, women’s soccer and community programs.
Of course, this is just a way to play the victim and inflict emotional intimidation. Everyone knows that City can already attract the best players. There was nothing to stop them from bringing in Erling Haaland, for example, and there is no reason why they cannot continue their current spending on youth, women’s or community programs. The dictionary definition of tyranny is ‘a cruel and oppressive government or rule.’ It seems applicable here if a club owner decides to suppress ‘minority’ elements in his club. Especially because it is done out of malice towards the Premier League. More than any kind of necessity.
But the Premier League keeps winning. I saw a Manchester City account yesterday crowing triumphantly about how their club was dealing with the ‘Premier League cartel’, which was downright ignorant and depressing. In this context, there are no cartels. Because there is no collusion standing in the way of City’s success. You can’t blame the cartel when they’ve won six of the last seven Premier League titles. You are a cartel.
So Manchester City has a history of having UEFA charges overturned, not because they were found not guilty on 115 charges. due to time constraints Worst of all – it has now left the Premier League embroiled in massive legal action. Remember. When UEFA indicted the City chairman It is quoted as saying.“…he would rather spend $30 million on 50 of the best lawyers in the world to sue him for the next 10 years.”
So with that in mind, it’s hard not to think that part of this legal action is to stretch the resources of the Premier League’s own legal department ahead of the independent hearings in November. And ultimately, what City want is to be able to do whatever they want financially without oversight, and to do so in a way that skews an already largely uncompetitive environment in their favor.
As I said, they have won six of the last seven titles. This season’s Arsenal team has won more games in a season than the Invincibles, but we still haven’t won enough to win the title. Liverpool have only lost once all season and have not won a title. If City could sponsor an unlimited amount of money through their owners, no one would have to try any harder. Perhaps Newcastle, whose owners have far more cash on hand, may demand their money (no pun intended), but the last vestiges of sporting integrity and competitiveness will be gone from England’s top flight.
What City are doing here is an existential threat to the Premier League as we know it. And look, we know it’s far from perfect. Perhaps this is a result of allowing the never-ending drive for profits and wealth to be at the heart of the Premier League since its inception. If you let someone like Roman Abramovich in, the stall door won’t close. The hoses are properly bolted.
Personally speaking, nothing about City and what they have done has resonated with me. Projects, clubs, managers and even great players all leave me cold. I don’t respect that for one second and I never will. But it’s one thing to be able to dismiss their success as futile and go about your day, but it’s a whole other thing for a club facing 115 charges from the Premier League to sue the same organization because they claim the rules are ‘illegal’. It’s not fair. But while there are rules they certainly haven’t broken, there are rules they don’t feel should apply to them.
What a mess. What a depressing, inescapable, mean-spirited, dreary, contemptible mess.
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