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The great Man City sham

Miguel Delaney's Inside Football

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Lawrence Ostlere is joined by Miguel Delaney for another impromptu episode of Copa Independent to react hours after an independent commission’s verdict on Manchester City was released, which finds the club guilty of almost all Premier League charges, and arranging “sham” sponsorships to inflate revenue by more than £830m over nine years, misstating accounts, concealing finances from auditors and regulators, and repeatedly breaching cooperation duties.

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20 Comments

@KevinF1979 1 day ago

I don’t think Sky, The Premiership and fans realise the full consequences of this yet. Their rules were discarded, abused and exploited by a club /nation (Abu Dhabi) sponsor who came to dominate for the bones of 15 years. Have they realised how poorly this reflects on England, The Premiership and football? This is a monumental abuse. I think Manchester City as a Club must be de-licensed. How can such dishonesty be sustained in any legitimate fair sport?

@ashrobinson4604 2 days ago

Essentially Soriano is accusing the Premier League and the Independent Commission of corruption. Is that another charge for Man City?

@CatGPT_ 1 day ago

Shampagne Supernova 🍾🥂🎉

@DuncanDisorderly77 1 day ago

Why would a team with irrefutable evidence to clear themselves go out of their way to block the investigation at every turn ? Sure doesn’t seem like the behaviour of a team with nothing to hide.

@ashrobinson4604 2 days ago

Breach of trust requires that Man City is expelled from the Premier League.

@thermodynamics458 1 day ago

Having intensely annoying, arrogant fans is another aggravating factor for City, I feel.

An extra year downstairs.

@SPW567 1 day ago

if Everton owed Burnley $35 million for one year, Man City owes every team in the prem $200 million+ for 9 years

@ChrisHodgsonCorben-Dallas 1 day ago

Guys if you are looking at historic precedents for how a blackened reputation can destroy a club look up Leeds City FC being wound up after scandal and becoming Leeds United FC… it happened a century ago but there are some parallels

@johnscannell6596 1 day ago

Jesus Miguel, you can't even bring a bottle of water into a ground these days, so good luck to anyone trying to bring a banner into one.

@BigBoyAlbee 2 days ago

Good afternoon, Citeh need to be relegated to the conference league, stripped of their cheated titles and fined 830 million pounds

@MakeYourTransition 1 day ago

On Miguel saying it wouldnt effect the league if City were expelled - at this stage it would massively BENEFIT the league if they were expelled.

Sporting integrity now demands it.

@justinfletcher1882 1 day ago (edited)

It’s the sheer arrogance that I can’t stand. They had a court case to put forward irrefutable evidence. If they go after the process or in a technically based argument then they admit their guilt. Basically like they did with CAS. They got off on a date, not the fact that they were innocent.

If they had cooperated in good faith like they signed up to do I’d have more sympathy. But they didn’t, they obstructed the process at every step.

Btw, knowingly or recklessly making a false, misleading, or deceptive statement to a company auditor is a criminal offence!

Feel so much for the city fans, they have been through so much prior to the takeover and now this.

@procsorted 1 day ago (edited)

Playing in the premier league next season? Man City shouldn't be playing in it this season! Do you seriously think the premier league are going to survive reputationally if city win the title this season?! You're living in fantasy land. They have to be expelled asap

@olikardy8429 1 day ago

Liquidate them, ban the owners, make the current legal entity give the supporters trust the stadium and some money to start a phoenix club.

@shill7307 1 day ago

The guilty verdict is based on City's evidence having already been seen. There is nothing more to say. Their CEO is delusional.

@AlanMorrison-w6p 1 day ago

If it goes to the High evidence will be made public. If City feel public evidence would be beneficial I suggest it would already be public.

@peterm7548 1 day ago (edited)

As a retired barrister I can confirm that appealing this verdict will not reopen the factual findings but focus on procedure. They will assert bias, impropriety and procedural lapses. The classic ploy of the cornered defendant - tar the reputation of the tribunal. But then City is owned by a nepobaby minor royal from the UAE who is used to having his way. They will rather destroy the PL than admit fault and seek rehabilitation. But thats what happens when a country allows its best assets to fall into such hands. I hope that the government stays firm over any attempts to politicise this case by the UAE. I also hope that the leadership of the UAE will not support Sheikh Mansour as this is not conducive to their good relations with the UK which remains an important strategic partner for the UAE. Failure to punish City - which must include divesting the current owners of their share in the club - will assure the end of the PL's reputation.

@ApeOfMyIdeal 1 day ago

A "sham" everyone knew was happening. JW Henry said years ago when City announced a record sponsorship with Emirates Airlines, "and what did the runner up bid offer"? City's sponsorship reveneue increased eleven-fold in five years. It even admitted an "erroneous" deal with a fake betting sponsor that only existed in an Abu Dhabi post box years ago. Everyone knew.