The 115 charges seem to have failed. But there is still a way out for football.

The headline, “Lord Sugar on 115 charges case: ‘Man City have got away with murder’.” appeared on AOL   A virtually identical headline has appeared in the Telegraph, (and to make it clear, I’m just quoting).  And the argument that they have got away with it, comes because their “court battle with the Premier League continues to be unresolved.”

But lurking behind the scenes is the issue of what happens next, and that is where it gets interesting.

Now of late  some people with a lot more money than I have ever imagined, have openly stated that “the Abu Dhabi-owned club have been spending millions on legal fees to “frighten” the Premier League.”   Lord Sugar also said, “For about three years now there has been talk of them infringing these rules, they must have already paid out half a billion to lawyers so far to frighten the Premier League. When are they going to get done? Or aren’t they going to get done?”

And that last point is the disturbing one.  Maybe they are planning for this case to run forever.  Which is really the point we are now starting to address.

For its not just the old Telegraph newspaper with its “behind closed doors” website that is getting agitated, the former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein is quoted as saying that the expenditure by ManC “makes a ‘mockery of Premier League regulation in the top flight.” 

Indeed there is even talk of Uefa kicking out the Premier League because it is not properly regulated    Uefa rules prohibit football disputes being taken to state courts, stating that they must be arbitrated instead through internal bodies and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.   But with ManC the CAS has failed at every turn.

Now of course the case is still running but there will come a time when people realise that the fact that the case ended in December 2024 and there have been nothing since (neither on the media nor from the  independent commission who were supposed to be publishing a ruling).   And someone will say, “I think we ought to act…”.

For as the newspaper says, “there’s growing unrest on all sides regarding the time taken to reach an outcome.”   

Bernstein added, “Why the league decided to prosecute all 115 alleged offences is a mystery to me. Surely common sense (often in short supply) would point to simplifying the process by taking a handful of the bigger, clearer issues and pursuing these as specimen cases.”

Now some people are saying that actually other clubs are not that concerned about ManC’s spending and so don’t have a settlement of the case at the top of their agenda.  Other say that the League can’t afford to proceed with the case, so leave it hanging which means no one can talk about the case.  And certainly politicians are not going to touch it.  In any of these scenarios ManC go on breaking their own spending records without anyone saying a word. 

So some now say the Premier League has become a laughing stock, and that ManC will simply march back this season and start another long run of victories.

Meanwhile the League know there is no point of finding ManC guilty as they will simply appeal and the League will have to run up more legal costs as the appeal takes longer than the original case.

But there is another way forward.   For the rest of the League could resign and then form another league of their own without Manc.  Clubs from lower leagues could also form a new pyramid feeding into the new league.   ManC is left on its own, with none of the major clubs to play.  The clubs previously in the Premier League obviously lose out on European games, but simply invite clubs from other countries to play in newly formed competitions.  And they would – they don’t just want to play the ManCs.

ManC might protest and claim everyone is now breaking the rules, but they would be taking on the whole league.  There would be a question of whether Uefa stands with the Premier League clubs or not – I think they would but it doesn’t matter.  ManC would simply be isolated

And since the new league would be set up “by invitation only” ManC wouldn’t be able to join.  It could try and set up a league of its own, but who wants to play in a league that no one else can win?

At the heart of all this is greed and by and large most people I come into contact with, both personally and through business, don’t actually like greed.  So in the long run, I don’t think ManC has a chance of playing anyone, except other clubs from the same background as itself.  They will, in short, become pariahs.

The only way this scenario doesn’t work is is clubs give into ManC.  It is rather important to stand firm.  

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