- When the BBC calls Man City contracts a sham, it is time to take notice
- Arsene Wenger urged to stand against Gianni Infantino in FIFA elections
By Tony Attwood
There seems to be little doubt that international football, previously run by a tiny coterie of people who liked to do things their own way, without any interference from those pesky clubs, club managers, broadcasters and the like are now debating among themselves over what happens next when the club with the most money in the world is found guilty of 15 breaches of its financial regulations from 2009 to 2018. It is said that Fifa intervened during 2014 settlement case and pushed Uefa aside.
Meanwhile other issues keep popping up such as that revealed in the “Man City accused of avoiding £12m tax payments over Mancini contract” headline in the Telegraph in which it says an analysis by not-for-profit group “suggests club could face bill and penalty of up to £24m over alleged ‘sham’ consultancy arrangement.” I think that’s a new one, but it might be an old one come back to haunt them.
At least in the welter of new accusations some newspapers are standing firm, as with the Telegraph’s headline “Man City’s shamed owners must be forced to sell” which points out that the “Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test makes clear repercussions for breaking rules, so anyone who falls short must pay heavy price.” Although I doubt the owners of Manc will face anything heavy.
Meanwhile some are having a bit of fun with points deductions up to 200 points being postulated. I won’t go to the very edges but I quiote liked: “What Man City’s downfall could look like after 100-point deduction with mass exodus and shock new boss predicted”
I guess this is going to rumble on for weeks, months and possibly years, with all supporters of other clubs booing every kick of the ball the Mancs make until the whole thing is settled. One can only only hope that the League don’t give in just to get the dispute over and done.
I do like the idea of ManC being relegated but then refusing to accept their fixtures in the lower division (so demeaning), thus refusing to play, and then being kicked out of the League altogether. That might show other clubs that messing about is not a good idea.
ManC seem to be putting a lot of faith in the “proof” that their owners are offering about having not made all the alleged payments, but they also seem to forget that there is no obligation on those overseeing the case to accept such evidence.
In fact because the whole situation is completely new, it seems hard to work out what is going to happen. Except that we have had points deductions in the past – lots of them in fact. As the Dragon Football website suggests that there have been 55 separate points deduction cases in the past. The earliest in fact was in 1996/7 when Middlesbrough were knocked three points for an “unauthorised postponement of a fixture.” What reckless people they are n the north east.
This seems to suggests that the football authorities have a fairly free reign when it comes to handing out punishments like this, and having done it over 50 times (I counted 53 but I was counting on a screen so may have got it slightly wrong) they seem quite to like this form of punishment.
The largest deduction ever handed out appears to be the grand sum of 30 points knocked off the total of Luton Town in 2008/09 although this was made up of two separate punishments, one from the League and one from the FA.
The Football Association removed ten points for what it found to be “irregular matters involving player transfers” while the Football League joined in with another 20 for “breaking the rules on exiting administration.” That second one is rather interesting because I wouldn’t put it past the ManCs to do exactly that, and so the League would have a precedent on how to handle that.
As a result of all that, Luton ended up not surprisingly at the bottom of the league and tumbled down into the Conference. And yet rather remarkably Luton won the Football League Trophy in the same season, beating Scunthorpe at Wembley. So maybe ManC can win the Dubious Dealings and Dodgy Doings Cup and so have something to parade come May. If the case is finished by then. (Which I rather doubt). Or the Crazy Cockup Cup perhaps
But looking at past points removals, this seems to suggests that the football authorities have a fairly free reign when it comes to handing out punishments like this, and having done it over 50 times (I counted 53 but I was counting on a screen so may have got it slightly wrong) they seem quite to like this form of punishment. 100 points? 200 points?
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