Is anyone on her as furious as me about Man City ?

[hittingthegroundcrawling]

As I said. It’s appalling

What if many other clubs have been doing the same? All the major clubs need a full audit.

I think relegation should happen but I don’t think it’s possible to put them in a league far down as of how things work (at least from what I’ve read but things seem up in the air so who knows).

The outcome of the case has been leaked, which is why there's no official word on sanctions or when they will be decided. DP thinks Guardiola left before all this came out. It's got to be substantial though - relegating them one league won't work as they'll go straight back up on the strength of the current team.

Where there's money and power there's corruption.

When a money tree buys you out don’t be shocked when it gets felled.

I can't get my head around a game that has so much money and power basically from a group of grown men kicking a ball round a field....

They will be audited. It will be more about governance and culture than the financial information shared with the auditors. You're talking about key personnel being aware or not challenging things they find out or a conspiracy to conceal the facts. Also some people who knew or thought they knew something was wrong will have been too scared to speak up. Plus external advisers will be in on this. Somewhere along the way, the financial benefits to them were shown to be so much that they decided to ignore the morality of it. And they thought they were really clever in concealing it. You only have to look at how they structured Mancini's pay. I'll add that I don't know what the actual charges were or the extent of them.

Exactly this.

The ultimate distraction, the energy and devotion fans put into the game would be transformative if directed towards something else that truly mattered. It should be studied.

That's one way of viewing it, but shared following of sport brings other benefits that you're overlooking.

i just don't understand why people care this much about football

You could say the same about any form of entertainment or sport, there's nothing wrong with that in and of itself.

We all need interests outside of work and home life, it's healthy (within reason).

I think it’s unlikely they were doing things to the same extent, as Man City came from nothing to the top team due to the spending. Other clubs like Liverpool, Arsenal and Man U have been established top teams for a while.

I haven’t heard much from Man City fans but I suppose they could argue that the rules hold back lower teams from spending like the top teams. It’s not like it’s an even playing field to begin with so how is a lower team able to become an established top team?

Of course we do and it’s no different to Music in its wide appeal. The difference is the volume of money involved is astonishing for what is essentially 90 minutes of men kicking a leather ball around. It has no lasting impactful legacy which is the great shame considering the energy and conviction invested.

Huge fine to be donated to the new social care plan by our new PM. A couple of years worth of funding

I love that idea!

I am an Everton fan, we have plenty of signs you can borrow

As you said, we all knew of the charges and that they were guilty. I doubt much will happen. Chelsea got away with plenty as well.

It doesn't leave a lasting legacy for you.

The night Liverpool came from 3-0 down to win the Champions League in Istanbul was one of the best nights of my life. I love music but no gig will ever top that.

The legacy that music leaves is enjoyment for the fans and inspiration for the ones who come next. Same for football, along with a sense of community.

Bill Shankly

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”

Sums up much of my view. The owners and directors test of the Premier League and EFL has allowed all sorts of people most football fans would regard as dubious or unfit to be involved in the sport. Robert Mugabe would have passed it, as an example.

😁

Chelsea gave them the blueprint really. They only got away with it because the rules came in after Abramovich had bought the club. And more recently, because the new owners self reported issues from the old ownership.

Nice idea, but it would be a drop in ocean compared to the funding that's needed.

On what City were able to do by illicitly channeling money into the club: They could afford far more top, expensive players. So clubs usually struggle to keep a 1st choice squad injury free, particularly if the team is successful across domestic & European competitions and those top players inevitable international duties. City could effectively afford a second ‘1st team’ so never felt that same impact. When looking at fine margins over a season it makes all the difference. And it’s cheating.

Well of course. But a) it would be a start and b) would be a good example to set to other billionaire companies/businesses/people!

I can dream ...

People are writing as if 'big money' and corruption is a new phenomenon, it isn't.

Barry Hines (author of A Kestrel for a Knave) wrote The Blinder, a novel about a promising young footballer in the early 60s, it describes open rule-bending and breaking in English football 60 years ago.

If we go back further, The Arsenal, as they were then called, were elected to the 1st division in 1919 under dubious circumstances with claims of bribery; they effectively bought their election through illegal 'donations' to other clubs.

Looking into Europe, pretty well most main football leagues have their dark histories, and other sports too are not blemish-free.

I'm a bit baffled as to why people think that any sanction resulting in relegation, means the players will hang around to play in lower leagues.
I'd bet the players are already working on how to get out of their contracts

i bet most high profile players will have a clause in their favour allowing them to leave in such a situation. This has been brewing for years, it would be an obvious thing to have negotiated in when they signed for the club.