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Decision on 115 charges facing Man City is years away with club “very confident” they’ll be cleared

Jason Pettigrove — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 09:49:10 +0000

Everton’s 10-point deduction appears to have sent shockwaves through football, however, Man City remain supremely confident that they’ll be found not guilty of the 115 charges levelled against them.

The scale of charges against the current Premier League and European champions means that it’ll likely be at least a couple of years before the club are brought to book, even though Football Insider have noted that Liverpool are at least one club that would prefer everything is resolved before the start of the 2024/25 season.

It’s surely in the interests of the wider football family and not just the Premier League that City are either punished or absolved of any wrongdoing as quickly as possible.

The amount of paperwork to be gone through appears to be what’s holding the entire process up, and all the while, City can try their level best to hoover up as many titles as are available. In the last few years they’ve made a good go of doing so too.

Football Insider also quote a well-placed source as suggesting the club are “very confident” of being found not guilty because of their heavily-manned legal team.

It can’t be forgotten that City have some of the wealthiest owners in world football, and to that end, they should be able to afford best-in-class legal representation.

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There seems little that anyone can do at this point other than to let the saga take its course.

Ultimately, whether they’re found guilty or not, questions will surely be asked over the time it’s taken for this matter to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

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Exclusive: Nothing wrong with multi-club ownership as long as it’s policed properly

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 16:06:37 +0000

There are a few Premier League clubs that are expanding their portfolio wisely at this point, and though we won’t likely see the benefits of the same for a while yet, each of them appear to be taking a strategic position.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe will soon be in charge of football operations at Man United whilst still being involved at Nice, the Saudi Public Investment Fund own the biggest four clubs in the Pro League as well as Newcastle, Clearlake own both Chelsea and Strasbourg whilst the City Group have by far the biggest portfolio that includes clubs around the world.

Football traditionalists won’t like the way football is heading but that kind of ownership model is here to stay.

Co-creator of the Premier League and former ‘super agent,’ Jon Smith, believes that the status quo should remain as long as it’s policed properly.

“In principle, I agree that there should be some sort of management of multi-club ownership player swaps, because it gives rise to an advantage to those clubs against competing clubs who don’t have that accessibility to players and deals that perhaps are not as financially helpful,” he said for his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

“If you’re lending within your own group, you’re not really going to charge each other that much and the money gets reinvested into the group again.

“Of course, there’s ways around it. Let’s just say there are major funds, most of whom I know, who are seeking to own multiple football clubs, and some of the investors in those groups are sovereign wealth funds.

“So in other words, potentially, you have a country as an owner of a football club, dealing with a fund – of which that country’s sovereign wealth fund, which is different from the state ownership vehicle – actually means that is overly helpful to the initial club.

“I think clear, clearly defined capital ownership shows that there are no hidden ownerships in that mix, and if even if there are, by the way, that’s okay.”

The controversy that has arisen with regards to, for example, Newcastle being loaned players from the Saudi Pro League, isn’t anything new says Smith.

Indeed, there has been one club that has been surviving and thriving by using the player-swap scenario.

“Don’t forget Watford have been doing this for years with Udinese. Nobody’s complained, and it’s worked quite well for them,” Smith added.

“Providing it’s understood that it’s not a whole team, just one or two players every season or something like that, it’s absolutely financially advantageous for the clubs in that equation, beyond just the ability to move a player about.”

Supporters who still believe they are being short-changed by the pace at which the game is moving clearly have a choice to make.

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Man City should be punished if guilty and regulators must show backbone says EPL co-creator

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 15:45:17 +0000

The news of Everton’s 10-point deduction has sent shockwaves through football, with the co-creator of the Premier League, Jon Smith, suggesting that champions, Man City, must also be punished – but only if they’re found guilty.

It’s clear that Smith is taking a considered view of City’s alleged misdemeanours, and prefers to sit on the side of the fence that believes everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

In order for the club to be given a fair hearing, that is the viewpoint that everyone should adopt of course.

Sadly, in the social media age, trial by the mob seems to be something that many like to get on board with, without even bothering to digest a shred of evidence.

“With Manchester City I’d like to put on record that I love the advancement that City have put into the football club ownership in their group,” Smith said in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

“However, if they have breached the regulations 114 or 115 times, then they should be punished, and I’m a little concerned that we’ve heard nothing about that. But if they’re innocent, they’re innocent. They shouldn’t be pilloried because they’re wealthy either.

“If the regulators have got any teeth in the future, they have to be seen to bite now, because now is the moment where everyone’s eyes are looking at it.”

The point Smith makes about the regulators baring their teeth is a salient one.

On far too many occasions in the past, clubs that have done wrong in some way, get a token punishment by the authorities, be that the Premier League, UEFA, FIFA or whomever, and it really isn’t a deterrent to them.

Perhaps that’s why the 10 points metered out to Everton feels different. Is different.

Even so, Smith still feels that points deductions aren’t enough of a deterrent for the punishments to be worthwhile.

“Lastly, the 10-point deduction affects Everton’s supporters as much as it affects the ownership,” he added.

“So I think if if the financial value of a club has been enhanced by you breaching the regulations, in other words, you financially benefited, then a sizeable percentage of the punishment should be financial. Points is part of it yes, because it hurts, but the penalties should also be financial.”

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Agent’s column: Arteta was wrong, Man City must be punished IF they’re guilty, VAR must be improved and more

Jon Smith — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 14:34:02 +0000

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses Everton’s 10-point deduction, why VAR has to stay, why Mikel Arteta was wrong – and more!

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£1.2m for a 15-year-old is vulgar but if all teams can choose from the same selection pool, what’s the problem?

Finley Gorman’s purchase by Man City has seen some real pushback given that he’s only 15 and £1.2m in transfer fees is a little excessive, but do I think there should be a cap on transfer fees?

I am one of the people that helped to start the Premier League. It’s all about the competition, and it has been enormously successful because it’s the best footballing competition in the world.

I mean, people around the world didn’t know what Reading was, they thought it was a book you read. They never knew where Wigan was until it was in the Premier League. There were even people arriving on trips from Asia to see Wigan.

So, rather than stymie transfer fees as such and tell clubs what they can and cannot spend their money on, I am in favour of there being an overall cap on money spent.

Not necessarily on money spent aligning to your turnover, although, obviously that has to have some bearing on it because Manchester United’s overheads are bigger than Luton’s, but but you can’t have Manchester City, United, Liverpool or whoever being able to outbid the Burnley’s of this world just because they can.

Otherwise you end up like La Liga when there’s probably three, maybe four teams at the very top and 16 others that can only really compete at a certain level at any given time.

I think there has to be a mechanism whereby the great and the good are pretty equal in terms of their ability to sign players.

However, after signing young players, then their wellbeing has to be supported.

Some of the biggest, saddest moments in my 40 years in football have come when that lovely young kid who’s an Arsenal fan actually gets signed by Arsenal and he’s a hero at school because he’s an Arsenal lad… but he gets to 15 and he’s just not what they want or he’s not good enough…

There’s no real mental support for kids who suddenly find that their life has been devastated. It’s scary. You’re grappling with coming to terms with exams, your own sexuality, and suddenly you’re a failure at 15.

You’re not of course, because you did really brilliantly by being where you are and there’s absolutely life outside of Arsenal Football Club, but that’s where I’m coming from.

There should be a much more considered process and guardianship of young footballers coming through the system where they’re helped into it, helped through it and helped out a bit if they move elsewhere on their journey.

Football could learn a lot from the way rugby conducts itself

I am dismayed by referees being pilloried, physically in some cases and certainly mentally. I just think it sets a really, really, really bad example.

I even see it when watching kids play football on a Saturday. It’s not just the kids arguing with the referee, it’s the parents too, and in one case I saw a referee being pushed a few weeks ago. I thought that was beyond belief – and he wasn’t sent off. The parents are encouraging it, shouting abusive language at the referee.

I’m a big fan of Mikel Arteta, but against Newcastle, he was wrong. Very wrong. If you have a referee, he’s in charge and he may make mistakes. We all do. And that’s just the way that it is.

Just like in rugby, I think the referees should have a microphone attached and I think the crowd should be able to listen to it in real time. One abusive word or phrase – which doesn’t need repeating here – and they’re off, and the crowd will know exactly why.

You cannot let the violent society we live in translate onto a football pitch. I’ve never known my country to be so violent in all my 70 years. It’s a ridiculous world we live in now and it’s not going to get any better any time soon.

Our football leagues need to lead from the front. It’s the most watched, entertaining and enjoyed physical activity on the planet other than sex, so time to lead by emotional example here.

I do think an orange card or sin-binning would be a great idea too because the game has to keep evolving and it would hopefully calm things down a bit more. I believe that there should be some penalty, so maybe 15 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever it might be – especially if it’s the last 20 minutes.

I think that’s something that I would absolutely encourage the Premier League to look at.

I like VAR, it’s here to stay, but vast improvements must be made

I like VAR but I know that a lot of people don’t.

In the past I’ve been working with nation states at World Cup tournaments when the ball has definitely crossed the line. I’ve seen it cross the line but the referee was 30 yards behind play and didn’t see it, nor did the assistant referee.

They’ve gone out of the competition at that stage and probably lost millions of potential income for their Federation because of a poor decision.

So I love what they did in the 2022 World Cup with the semi-automated offside technology which is basically AI and it tracks the limbs. By the way, I don’t think a stud on the striker’s right boot should determine if he’s offside or not and I think there has to be a redefining of handball. It’s handball, not ball to hand.

The semi-automated offside technology and the technology that runs alongside that I think is fantastic and is the way forward. The Premier League doesn’t employ that by the way.

There should be a replay of the incident on the big stadium screen two or three times and somebody commentating on it so there’s some sort of crowd engagement.

That wonderful Tottenham game… there were times it took four or five minutes for a decision. you could’ve gone to get a hot dog, come back and find the situation still wasn’t resolved.

I don’t think I’m qualified as a referee to say how they should or shouldn’t use the technology, but all I know is that the technology is there, and the advanced technology that FIFA used is there, and it works – now.

There were a few space disasters before man landed on the moon. I think we’ve got to be cognisant that it may take a year or two, but I think they’ll get it right.

It’s important they do and I absolutely believe the crowd should be involved in the engagement of the process.

Multi-club ownership isn’t wrong but has to be policed properly

In principle, I agree that there should be some sort of management of multi-club ownership player swaps, because it gives rise to an advantage to those clubs against competing clubs who don’t have that accessibility to players and deals that perhaps are not as financially helpful.

If you’re lending within your own group, you’re not really going to charge each other that much and the money gets reinvested into the group again.

Of course, there’s ways around it. Let’s just say there are major funds, most of whom I know, who are seeking to own multiple football clubs, and some of the investors in those groups are sovereign wealth funds.

So in other words, potentially, you have a country as an owner of a football club, dealing with a fund – of which that country’s sovereign wealth fund, which is different from the state ownership vehicle – actually means that is overly helpful to the initial club.

I think clear, clearly defined capital ownership shows that there are no hidden ownerships in that mix, and if even if there are, by the way, that’s okay. Don’t forget Watford have been doing this for years with Udinese. Nobody’s complained, and it’s worked quite well for them.

Providing it’s understood that it’s not a whole team, just one or two players every season or something like that, it’s absolutely financially advantageous for the clubs in that equation, beyond just the ability to move a player about.

Everton should absolutely be punished… as should every other club if they’ve broken the rules

Let’s talk Everton for a moment. The rules are there for a reason and they should be obeyed.

There’s been some unfortunate circumstances around Everton but it’s not the most heinous crime of the lot by comparison to what’s alleged at Man City.

I think the 10 point deduction is a salutary moment because it will make make clubs sit up and take notice and think about what they might have done in the past.

For example, we’ve had Paris Saint-Germain allegedly skirting merrily around certain regulations and financial fair play, and apparently having no sanctions at all.

With Manchester City I’d like to put on record that I love the advancement that City have put into the football club ownership in their group .

However, if they have breached the regulations 114 or 115 times, then they should be punished, and I’m a little concerned that we’ve heard nothing about that. But if they’re innocent, they’re innocent. They shouldn’t be pilloried because they’re wealthy either.

If the regulators have got any teeth in the future, they have to be seen to bite now, because now is the moment where everyone’s eyes are looking at it.

I am concerned that the governing bodies are becoming relatively benevolent for obvious reasons of requiring the financial support from some of the sizeable sovereign funds that are around, less so to the big hedge fund owners – but even they get a doff of the cap occasionally.

So, I am concerned that if Qatar, Saudi Arabia or whomever want to change the rules, they’ve got more access to people at the top of the game than others.

It needs to be literally a level playing field for everyone to have access to the lawmakers or else the supporters will start to drift away – and at that point, you lose the heartbeat of the game.

Lastly, the 10-point deduction affects Everton’s supporters as much as it affects the ownership.

So I think if if the financial value of a club has been enhanced by you breaching the regulations, in other words, you financially benefited, then a sizeable percentage of the punishment should be financial. Points is part of it yes, because it hurts, but the penalties should also be financial.

The post Agent’s column: Arteta was wrong, Man City must be punished IF they’re guilty, VAR must be improved and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Exclusive: Stan Collymore on the complete meltdown at Man City if Everton are charged

Jason Pettigrove — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 12:15:32 +0000

The news that Everton could be docked 12 points by the Premier League for one instance of financial irregularity could have massive consequences for Man City according to Stan Collymore.

The pundit, who is never short of a strong opinion or two, even suggested the the club will go into complete meltdown at the thought of being bounced to the bottom of the English league football pyramid.

‘The Premier League are quite prevalent at briefing journalists and if they’re throwing a 12 point deduction at Everton, which is a significant sanction against one club, for the 114/115 charges that are facing Man City, they’re effectively saying ‘we’re ready, our lawyers are across all of this now, and as an organisation we will not accept it,” Collymore wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

‘Manchester City’s lawyers have tried to kick things into the long grass for quite a number of years now and these aren’t fresh charges. The Premier League are almost prepping the footballing public as to the severity.’

It’s certainly a strange situation when Man City’s historic and significant charges are still not dealt with but Everton, with just a single charge levied against them, appear to be getting hauled before the authorities in double-quick time.

‘Most people would look at Everton and say they feel a little bit for them. They’ve had a shaky time and they’ve never offended anybody, and they come from a great footballing city,’ Collymore continued.

‘If the Premier League can go straight away bang 12 points that might relegate them for the first time in I think 70 years, they would have no qualms whatsoever in throwing the book at Man City.

‘Even if just a quarter of those charges were proven, there is a situation where Manchester City will not only be bounced out of the Premier League, but thrown towards the bottom of the pyramid.’

Given the immense financial backing that Man City’s owners have, it’s a given that they will be able to call upon the services of the best legal teams in the world.

If the Premier League are going to press ahead as Collymore believes, then having taken their time before making their move is likely to serve the EPL better than if it had already gone all guns blazing to try and ensure City were punished.

‘The stakes are so great now it could mean an absolute meltdown for Man City, to the kind of proportions that Rangers suffered in Scotland when they fell foul of paying players via elaborate schemes,’ Collymore added.

‘The Premier League only have the remit to be able to kick them out of the Premier League of course, but the Football Association and the Football League won’t want them in the top divisions of their competition either. City will go to the very bottom of the pile.’

There’s still no timescale on whether any charges will ultimately be brought, and whether the proposed sanctions will be authorised and actioned.

Until there is complete clarity, both Everton and Man City are likely to be waiting on tenterhooks.

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Official partner of Man City is implicated in human trafficking investigation and allegations it is a Ponzi scheme

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 14:44:37 +0000

There isn’t too much doubt that Man City are currently the best football team in the world.

In truth they have been for some while, though without having won the Champions League until recently, there was always the notion that they couldn’t genuinely claim to be the best until they’d secured the ‘cup with the big ears.’

Being a club that is arguably the one to which all others aspire brings with it a certain cachet, and it’s obvious why sponsors and club partners wish to do business with them.

However, such is the murky world of football these days, that one of City’s official club partners, QNET, have become embroiled in a human trafficking investigation according to Josimar.

The outlet also suggest that there have been accusations the company is in fact a Ponzi scheme which has caused some of its investors to commit suicide or face financial ruin.

Among the myriad of stories that have become public knowledge thanks to Josimar’s investigation is the arrest of seven people after $100,000 was found in one of QNET’s offices in Africa. All seven apparently claimed that they worked for the company.

The Ponzi scheme accusations come in part because of the need for anyone who wants a job at the company needing to buy an ‘IRship package’ for $30, and then start to bring in as many other friends and family as possible.

As Josimar note:

Due to Qnet’s business model, those at the front of the ‘Upline’ earn the most money when products are sold, while those at the bottom of the ‘Downline’ earn least. Since those at the bottom will earn commission from sales made by anybody they refer to Qnet, there is an incentive to move ‘Upline’ by getting as many people as possible to register in order to boost the commission you earn from ‘Downline’ sales they make. A relentless cycle where the recruited become the recruiters.

It’s an unsavoury association to say the least, and not the type of publicity the European champions need at this point.

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Pep Guardiola drops hints over future plans ahead of Man City’s Community Shield test

Jason Pettigrove — Sat, 05 Aug 2023 21:58:00 +0000

You’re unlikely to find too many people doubting that Pep Guardiola is the best football coach of the modern era, and the Man City manager has hinted at his future plans ahead of the Community Shield with Arsenal.

The former Barcelona and Bayern man has changed the way that football is played in the Premier League, and for the most part has managed to ensure his City sides are head and shoulders above the rest of the English top-flight.

Though it’s been a few years in the making, a treble of FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League in 2022/23 was no more than the Cityzens deserved.

Pep, ever the perfectionist, almost certainly won’t allow his players to rest on their laurels. After the Community Shield, there’s the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup to win in order to complete the sextuple, and the defence of their treble will also be an added motivation.

If they can add the Carabao Cup too, they’ll be the first in history to do the quadruple, and, injuries permitting, one can imagine they could go close.

The drive and desire to consistently be the best must take an awful lot out of you, and Guardiola gave an interview on his future plans.

“I signed a contract for another two years because I feel comfortable – and nothing has changed whether we won (the treble) or didn’t win,” he was quoted as saying by the Manchester Evening News.

“I am happy and the people are happy, the board and the hierarchy especially, because they decide in the end which manager is going to lead this group of players.

“If they are satisfied, I am still satisfied. I want to defend what we won and maybe at the end of the season, if I am tired, we will talk with the club – or maybe extend more.”

Those managers that thought they only had another two seasons to wait will likely be holding their heads in their hands after hearing that.

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Shady dealing over supposed sponsorship payments has put Man City back in the dock again

Jason Pettigrove — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 09:27:27 +0000

Controversy seems to be following Man City around at every turn just now, rendering their recent treble win as yesterday’s news.

Since breaking their Premier League hoodoo back in 2012, the Cityzens have gone on to become the most successful side in the English top-flight over the past decade.

Under Pep Guardiola, the current champions of England and Europe have gone from strength to strength, playing some of the best football ever seen in an English league.

Unfortunately, there have always been underlying issues that have dogged the club and that won’t seem to go away.

There’s the significant matter of 115 separate charges being brought against the club for various apparent misdeamours, per The Times (subscription required) as a start point.

At present, the club and its employees have chosen not to speak about them, other than Guardiola’s proclamation that he would leave the club immediately if he felt he had been lied to.

?? “If you’re lying to me, the day after I’m not here. I will be out and you will not be my friend anymore.”

Pep Guardiola in May 2022 said he would leave the club if they were found guilty of breaching FFP. ? pic.twitter.com/C1PqdYgcAG

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) February 6, 2023

Now, however, yet another issue has reared its ugly head above the parapet.

According to The Times (subscription required), a leaked report has uncovered that an unnamed person or persons from the United Arab Emirates paid £30 million to the club which UEFA have deduced should’ve come from a main sponsor, Etisalat.

However, it appears the funds were disguised equity funding supplied by City’s owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), headed by Sheikh Mansour.

It’s yet another murky scenario for the club, and the sooner the truth is uncovered the better for all concerned.

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Newcastle’s new owner is not even close to the sport’s richest person

Darren Looney — Sun, 17 Apr 2022 09:33:06 +0000

When Newcastle United were taken over by a consortium spearheaded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) and their chairman Mohammad Bin Salman, many were led to believe that the Saudi crown prince was now the richest owner in football, which is in fact not the case.

As informed by research collected by OLBG, the Daily Mirror has compiled a list of the top ten wealthiest sports team owners, but here, only the football personnel will be considered.

Starting with the subject in question, Newcastle’s Bin Salman has a net worth of around $18bn, which ranks him as the sixth richest owner in the sport.

Mohammed bin Salman is the sixth richest football owner.

Arsenal’s Stan Kroenke is next on the list with a net worth of $19.8bn, which must be frustrating for Arsenal fans knowing the money that could be spent over the years. However, the American has a massive portfolio of sports teams, as he owns NFL side Los Angeles Rams, NBA giants Denver Nuggets, Ice Hockey icons Colorado Avalanche, and MLS side Colorado Rapids.

Man City’s owner Sheikh Mansour is one of the most known in football and is worth a staggering $22.9bn. The City owner also owns a host of other smaller football teams as part of the City Group but his main focus is the Premier League side. Mansour has built City into a footballing powerhouse and it does not look like stopping anytime soon.

Sheikh Mansour of Manchester City

Surprisingly the next three owners are not involved in the Premier League or include PSG.

The third richest owner on the list is Dietrich Mateschitz and his Red Bull machine, with clubs like New York Red Bulls, RB Salzburg and RB Leipzig all under his control. The Austrian is believed to be worth around $28.5bn.

British government “going after” Manchester City owners following Chelsea sanctions

Magnus Eriksen — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 12:33:52 +0000

The British government have been accused of “going after” Manchester City’s owners following the recent sanctions against Chelsea chief Roman Abramovich.

The UK have imposed sanctions on Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, which ultimately looks like it’s going to lead to the club changing hands in the near future.

Now it may be that the government have Man City’s Sheikh Mansour in mind, with Labour MP Chris Bryant making it clear he’s concerned about the country’s closeness with these regimes.

AS report that the UK are now ‘going after’ the United Arab Emirates, minister of presidential affairs.

The government have also put out a statement, reading: “It is the UK’s firm belief that – in the absence of a change in behaviour by the Syrian regime – strengthening ties undermines the prospect of a lasting and inclusive peace in Syria.”