By Tony Attwood
- Can ManC be thrown out of the League or is there a way around this fight?
- Guilty guilty guilty all the way down the line – and still they cry foul
One of the many interesting factors about the Premier League is that it is an organisation owned by the club that play in it. So if the League faces an issue, it is the League clubs that have to decide what to do about that issue. And of course at this moment that issue is Manchester City.
So while it is quite correct in many regards to say that that Manchester City issue is one for the police in areas in which they are felt to have broken the law, it is also correct to say that what happens to the Mancs in footballing terms is a matter for the Premier League. Indeed the Premier League is quite entitled to say that the club has broken its rules and so should be removed from the League, while the issue of any criminal activity such as cheating would be a totally separate matter for the police. In short, two sets of illicit events, two sets of punishments.
Indeed it is being reported today that Lord Cruddas has called for the ManC club to be charged with criminal offences over their activities meaning the Football Regulator could take action against owners. As a result of that the League could then decide if it wanted to the club in the Premier League or have it removed.
It is also being reported that clubs are pushing the Premier League to sanction ManC in a way that would mean it will not be able to play in the League for a prolonged period of time. They could be suspended from the League or indeed demoted to the fourth tier – if the fourth tier would have the club that is.
Certainly the view of executives from other clubs in the Premier League seems to be that any action that results in ManC just missing one season of Premier League action (for example relegating them to the Championship and allowing them to come back up after one year) would be insufficient punishment given the nature of the crimes of which they have been found guilty by other clubs.
There is also some anger that the Mancs have utterly refused to admit their guilt over anything, sticking very much to the line that they have done absolutely nothing wrong and that a reading of the rules will prove them right. The clubs are particularly noting the what are being noted as the “disguised funding scheme” and “sham commercial deals”, alongside the fact that even now there is not a single admissmision from the Mancs that they have done anything wrong at all.
This annoyance follows a tradition of the UK courts in which defendants who admit their guilt at once when on trial are normally given much lighter sentences than those who continue to protest their innocence and thus demand a full trial. What the law courts look for is admission and remorse, and although Manc are not in a law court their refusal to admit any guilt – and indeed their insistence that it is the League that has got it all wrong – has been noted with displeasure..
It is interesting also that under the rules of the League, the commission that investigated the case up to this point and found the Mancs guilty of all, or nearly all of the 115 charges against them, will also be the body that will decide what happens after a new panel considers the appeal. So if that panel says Mancs are still as guilty as they have been found so far, it is back to the original body to lay down the suitable punishment. And this of course is where we come to the option of kicking them out of the leagues.
Fortunately, the delaying tactics of the Mancs that we have seen so far can’t be continued as the appeal must be heard and finished by 24 December. The court then has until 23 January to deliver its verdict and judgement although I guess they might add on some extra days to allow for the Bank Holiday. The Mancs can then appeal.
As to what punishment ManC will get if found guilty, there is a whole range of options available. Points deduction is one most mentioned since their actions were designed to gain them more points, but it could also include refusal of the right to buy and sell players, and/or expulsion from the Premier League, although not from other leagues.
As ever, the only precedent we have in this regard is Everton who spent more than they should on transfers and who were in the end, after appeals, deducted six points from their tally for the following season. But the charges against them were much much smaller. We may expect something else here.
