Manchester City guilty of breaching PL financial rules 2009-18
· Sports · Indian Express, BBC News
Manchester City was found guilty this week of violating Premier League financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons by overstating income and understating costs. The club disguised £830.69 million in funding from its Abu Dhabi owner as sponsorship revenue to get around financial fair play regulations. Players such as Carlos Tevez, Sergio Agüero, Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne were signed during this period of record spending. The article notes it is difficult to draw a straight line between the violations and City's extraordinary success, but some inferences can be drawn with reasonable confidence. Consequences for City could range from expulsion and points deduction to enormous financial penalties, and they may be stripped of trophies won during that period including three Premier League titles. The legacy of City's achievements will forever be tainted by the financial misconduct.
Why it matters
The ruling undermines the credibility of Manchester City's titles and raises questions about the effectiveness of financial fair play rules in preventing wealthy owners from gaining unfair advantages. It also impacts other clubs that complied with the rules, such as Aston Villa, which have had to sell players to comply while City allegedly did not.
Read the original report — Indian Express
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