Will Manchester City soon be relegated to the Championship, the second division of English football? The crazy idea is theoretically possible as a highly anticipated internal legal process in the football world begins on Monday, September 16. The club, crowned English champion for the fourth consecutive season on May 19, faces 115 charges for having violated the financial fair play rules of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) between 2009 and 2018.
Nicknamed the “trial of the century” by the British press, the hearing is part of the paralegal process within the English football authorities. A “independent commission” The Premier League’s internal three-judge panel will examine the allegations made by the league’s governing body itself against City.
Everything is kept secret: the hearings are not public, their duration is not known and even the location where the hearing is held is unknown. ” trial “ has not been revealed – the media in the UK, however, claim that three months of proceedings and a verdict are expected in the first half of 2025.
The charges against the club, officially brought in February 2023 by the Premier League, are serious and lengthy. On 54 occasions, he is accused of publishing false financial information. On 35 occasions, he allegedly refused to cooperate with the investigation by the English football authorities. On 14 occasions, he is accused of lying about the salaries he paid to players and managers.
Behind this litany is a simple idea: since its acquisition in 2008, Sheikh Mansour Ben Zayed Al Nahyan, of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, is said to have poured hundreds of millions of euros into Manchester City without respecting the financial rules of English football, which require a club to balance its books, authorizing a maximum loss of 105 million pounds (124 million euros) over three years.
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Ces “rules of profitability and sustainability” English football’s rules are close to those of European Financial Fair Play, and are supposed to prevent billionaires (or oil states) from buying victory on the pitch too easily. The steamroller that the team has become, author of a historic treble in the 2022-2023 season (English championship, FA Cup, Champions League), is far from having demonstrated the effectiveness of these measures.
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