Breaking Down the Manchester City Debacle 

Manchester City has managed to drag me, a sporting novice, into the mess that is football politics and honestly, I’m here for the tea. Leng players and drama, sign me up! But for those of you who cannot be bothered to sift through pages and pages of jargon, here I am to break it down!

Let’s start with the charges,

115 scathing charges, all but one of which Manchester City has been found guilty of. When I said break down, please do not be mistaken; I will not be listing all the charges with an explanation… to quote an icon, “as if”.

Basically, the charges allege that the team has failed to abide by the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play Rules. The investigation has been going on for around eight years, with the original Premier League charges filed in February 2023. So whilst I was running Justin Bieber fan pages, a whole other cringefest was taking place in my very own city.

City maintains that this is false, appealing the conviction. But honestly, the alleged conduct during the investigation doesn’t help dispel doubt. From hiding documents to general shady practices, rumour has it Man City had something to hide. They deny any wrongdoing….

Guilty or  not guilty, the decision is not down to the court of public opinion…but this is my article, so here’s what I think anyway:

Regarding punishments, there is no strict set of sanctions for financial rule breaches; the Premier League fears that clubs would rather break the rules and take the punishments instead of choosing common decency. The fact that this was a genuine concern is a testament to the relationship between teams and the Premier League in the first place.

The potential punishments are as follows:

• Suspensions from playing league matches
• Points deductions
• Recommend to the board that the league expels the respondent club
• Order compensation
• Cancel or refuse registration of players

Honestly, any of these would be fair, as the matter’s longevity suggests that, since the initial revelation in 2013, there have been ongoing, intentional attempts to defraud the Premier League as a regulatory body.

Although Manchester City maintains their innocence, the truth is still not a public matter. Yet. Best believe when it does become one, I will be the first to inform you of all the latest developments.

Words by Abena-Assiah Assan