I think it’s pointless to blame Cheaty, Sandcastle, etc. and in extension UAE, Saudi etc. The football institution, the government/watchdogs, the media are crooked. Look at that vile of a character Čeferin, he has been elected by the national associations, so basically most of the associations are crooked.
If your guards are crooked, the thieves will steal.
Important consideration is that when the initial FFP regs were brought in, not only were they not really directed at stopping teams like city doing what they were doing, there was a general feeling among many of the top sides that the outside money being brought in was beneficial to the football economy and would either directly or indirectly help them. I think what we’re seeing now is a realization is that they were either short sighted in how damaging it would be, or that they underappreciated the lengths clubs like City would go to spend outside money.
Kind of like the idea that people dont mind that much if you break the rules a little, but when you flagrantly piss all over them youre left with no choice but to respond.
This.
Talking and thinking about the long-term is hard and not very sexy.
The problem I see is that people who don’t respect human rights issues won’t give a flying f*ck about PL rules like FFP or whatever. So, if you let people in who have a clear record of disrespecting human rights, you open the door for cheating the rules. It happened with Abu Dhabi, and it will of course happen with Saudi Arabia and others of that ilk. So, we’ll sit here in ten years time, looking at Saudi Arabia winning title after title, and the PL (the people having let them in in the first place), charging them with hundreds of infractions to the rules. What will they say then? ‘But… we didn’t know that they’d be so bad!’ Really, lads?
Anyway, things are what they are, and England isn’t the only problem spot in that regard. Football’s integrity is truly at the end, and that is a worldwide problem, although ther PL being the league with the most money around, it naturally attracts the worst kind of cheatery.
Unfortunately, as football reflects the state of our societies, it tells a lot about that as well…
I think there are two problems
I do think there was a lot of naivety about how bad they would be
I think the fit and proper persons test doesn’t really give a framework to prevent them running a football club. It’s a really piss weak process.
Money makes people greedy - when the coffers of the fat cats are being filled they can turn a blind eye - human nature. Plenty of oily money to smooth it all over.
For example, all their players?
More importantly, as much as I hate sportwashing, I think there has to be the benefit of the doubt given here, that they would at the very least try to play by the rules.
But of course, they ought to be watched with an eagle’s eye too, which doesn’t seem to be happening given the amount of dodgy sponsorships suddenly flooding into Newcastle…
Very well said that man.
It is encouraging to see that there is some part of the media that is not fawning over them, without legitimate critique.
Lest not forgot, they have approached most of this season without playing the one player whose absence a couple of seasons ago in our title winning season was identified (by them) as the main reason they could not keep up with our pace barely playing. Why? Because they spent a couple of hundred million on a few additional defenders.
They’ll exhaust every single potential loophole until the Premier League just give up.
I suspect their objection to the Barrister on the grounds of being an Arsenal fan is likely to be laughed away.
They have got Boris Johnson’s lawyer in and the defence seems to be along much the same lines.
Wasn’t Johnson solely based on “Sue Gray”?
its now 2035 and Man City have again lodged a legal challenge against the Premier League’s 115 charges for alledged rule breaches, disputing the involvment of a barrister who is in charge of the disciplinary process because he once sang you’ll never walk alone in his primary school choir 45 years ago.
The thing is… the tsunami against them will be starting to quell the more noses they put out of joint across Europe… IMO, Fraudiola will attempt to win the CL for the next 3 years on the bounce, so he can become even more of a legend in his own living room… Then he will get out of dodge, before the slap on the wrist arrives at the club.
The reason I feel the PL have been rather hesitant in bringing charges, was I believe they were hoping Fraudiola would have left already by now… and with a different manager, they might not have been so dominant, and the noises surrounding the club would quieten down
Is there anything more reassuring than City’s first rebuke being on the grounds of a barrister supporting another club?
Of course, this could be, or likely is, just a shot across the bow as they launch more direct challenges to the charges, but fuck me. That’s a pathetic opener.
Have they been hesitant though? They’ve probably just learned a lesson from how UEFA handled their case and ensured they crossed their T’s and dot their i’s.
Any time ‘delay’ since the charges were announced are probably not in the PL’s hands.
I see this as a good sign.
Is that it? Is that your defence?
If the best they can do is frivolous, they haven’t got a leg to stand on.
Edit:
Just saw Kloppo’s comment above. Well said.
