While Pep Guardiola calls for a quick solution to Manchester City’s alleged breaches of Premier League currency rules, leading Sky Sports News journalist Kaveh Solhekol explains what they are, the severity of the fees and how long this procedure will take.
Speaking on Tuesday, Guardiola said he would remain at the club next season, even with the specter of alleged breaches of the rules on them.
“I’ll stay next season,” he said. I will stay. When a hundred from the Premier League go against us, don’t worry, we’ll be there.
“What I would like is for the Premier League, or the judges, to make [a decision] as much as possible.
“Maybe we did something wrong, everyone will know, and if we are the way we are, as we have done as a club for many years in the right way, then other people prevent talking about it. We would like you tomorrow.
“I hope they’re not so busy, and the judges see it and pay attention to one side or the other, and in the end what’s better. Because at the end of the day, I firmly know that what we’ve won on the court, we deserve, I have no doubt. “
This article was first published in February 2023 and has since been updated.
Manchester City have been accused of breaching financial fair play rules about a hundred times over a nine-year period, starting in 2009 and continuing until 2018. It should be remembered that, in this period, Man City won the Premier League three times. .
The Premier League’s financial fair play rules are designed to make sure clubs spend more or less than they earn. You can avoid this by inflating how much you earn or hiding how much you spend.
According to the Premier League, Man City broke the rules for nine seasons. They allegedly provided accurate monetary information.
Apparently, they did not fully disclose the monetary payment it paid to one of its executives over a four-year period. The suggestion is that there was a secret contract, so one of the managers paid much more than officially declared.
The Premier League also alleges that Man City failed to comply with UEFA’s financial fair play rules over a five-year period. It also alleges that Man City cooperated fully with the Premier League investigation.
This is a very important matter for Man City.
In the past, when they were investigated by UEFA, Man City insisted they had done nothing wrong. In February 2020, UEFA banned them from the European festival for two seasons and also fined them €30 million (£26. 8 million).
Man City took the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The ban was overturned and the fine reduced to €10 million (£8. 9 million). the prescribed time, which in fact means they happened too long ago for UEFA to do anything about it.
Importantly, the Premier League regulations don’t come with a statute of limitations, so when Man City protect themselves, they can’t say those alleged breaches took a stand long ago for you to do something about it.
Football money expert Kieran Maguire speaking to Sky Sports News:
“The main difference between the Premier League and UEFA is that UEFA has a statute of limitations, which limits the availability of evidence to five years. The Premier League doesn’t have that.
“UEFA has regulations on the origin of evidence and it cannot come from illegal resources. If you take a look at the Premier League Handbook, it says that the source of knowledge and evidence is irrelevant to them. This would possibly be a component of Man City’s defence that some of the evidence to be provided through the Premier League comes from misplaced resources and that this evidence lacks credibility.
“I suspect that some of the evidence that will be presented through the Premier League to the independent commission will ultimately come from Football Leaks, Der Spiegel and the Portuguese hacker as it was exhaustive.
“It’s a component of the Premier League’s overall strategy to collect evidence, that is, when they felt they couldn’t necessarily receive it from the football club itself.
According to the rules of the Premier League, this may be a deduction of problems or even the risk of expulsion from the Premier League, I think it would be an excessive punishment.
But, if it were a points deduction, it would be a deduction that would be in the existing season, so if they were found to be at fault in a long season, that’s when the problem deduction would apply.
Many Premier League City clubs will be relegated if found guilty of breaking the rules for nine seasons.
Top clubs feel that taking away City’s titles in retrospect would be pointless and confusing, but a fine would probably not have much effect either.
The clubs that had most insisted on acting until Monday were the other members of the so-called “big six”: Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham.
There probably wouldn’t be much sympathy for City, who have won the Premier League six times in the last 11 years, if convicted.
Premier League clubs must be involved in the process, which is in the hands of an independent commission.
I don’t think it’s something that happens very quickly, so I would minimize the chances of something happening this season.
This investigation has been going on for 4 years. This is what will continue for a long time.
The Premier League regulations state that proceedings before an independent commission will be confidential and heard in private. We’ll know.
Then, according to the rules of the Premier League, the final value of the commission will be published on the Premier League website. We therefore have no indication of how long it will take, we may not be able to report on what is happening and possibly the final resolution is not known until it is published on the Premier League website.
Keep in mind that the only explanation for why all this was revealed was five years ago, the German media Der Spiegel published an investigation based on the paintings of Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto, who had hacked the email accounts of football clubs and agents. It was this story that prompted UEFA’s investigation into Man City, which also led to this Premier League investigation.
Man City published one at the time the fees were made, which read: “Manchester City FC is shocked by the publication of those alleged breaches of Premier League rules, especially given the extensive commitment and the wealth of detailed documentation that has been provided to the EPL.
“The club welcomes the review of this case through an independent commission, to read impartially over the full framework of irrefutable evidence that exists in its position.
“As such, we hope that this matter will be resolved once and for all. “
The independent commission will be composed of 3 members, who will be chosen through Murray Rosen KC, chairman of the Premier League judicial panel.
The three-person panel can come with any of the 15 members of the judicial panel, as well as non-members.
Once a sentence is handed down, the Premier League and Man City will be able to appeal; there is no appeal to CAS.
Instead, Rosen would appoint a committee composed of new members. Lately there are six members on the Premier League Appeal Committee.
Stephen Taylor Heath, director of sports law at JMW, speaking to Sky Sports News:
“The commission will have a legal representative on the panel, and expects that representative to be a pretty important adviser to the king.
“Manchester City had a legal responsibility to comply with the Premier League investigation and now has a legal responsibility to comply with the commission’s procedure. If they comply, a bad opinion will be taken. “
“If the accusations are similar to administrative errors, the sanctions will be a slap on the wrist. You’d think if the Premier League has come this far, either they think there’s a case to answer, or they just have to get to the point where they haven’t won the answers, and now they’re asking for a commission to get the answers. “
Football money expert Kieran Maguire speaking to Sky Sports News:
“If you contact the lawyers, they say it would be difficult for another club to say that it has lost a name or, perhaps more importantly, the Champions League and all the rewards it brings.
“Not long ago it was reported that Burnley and Leeds could make a statement contrary to Everton in relation to their economic scenario, this has never crystallized.
“Everyone will be watching this with interest and once an independent commission makes its judgment, things will continue from there. “