A “Case Juventus” shakes the Premier League: it is the Manchester City. The English football club, a powerhouse in world football, winners of the English championship and runners-up in Europe last year, has come under the scrutiny of the British football league for the so-called “financial fair-play”, the correctness of blancio, and could suffer a heavy deduction of points or even expulsion from the championship. The Premier League has indeed accused the club, owned by the sheikh Al-Mansour, of the ruling family of the Emirates, of having violated its rules on more than 100 occasions and over several years. If proven, these would be the biggest offenses committed by a club in the history of the competition.
What City risks
An independent commission, appointed by the chairman of the Premier League judiciaryMurray Rosen KCwill look into the allegations: if guilty, City could be sentenced to expulsion from the competition, suspension or reduction of points in the table. The list of penalties is listed in the Premier League handbook but it is clear a committee will apply whatever punishment it deems fit. ‘, that he failed to ‘include all the details’ on the remuneration of players and managers, that he failed to comply with ‘financial correctness’ rules and that he failed to cooperate in an investigation into the Premier League which ended after more than four years.
An earthquake in the Premier League
The allegations risk destabilizing the entire English football league, the richest in the world. City is also the club that has reshaped the British sports industry since it was taken over by the investment fund of the Abu Dhabi royal family in 2008. Their squad is valued at over £1bn and the club is at the center of a global network of 12 football clubs. The financial charges brought against Manchester City span 2009-2018, and those requiring the club to “cooperate and assist the Premier League in its investigations” extend from 2018 to this season.
Football & Politics
According to some observers, however, the internal investigation would be a political move. In these days the English government is about to publish the white paper on the reform of English football: from the championships to the management of the clubs, passing through the stadiums. So here is the independent commission of the Premier League which could punish one of its associates, becomes an oblique message to the Prime Minister: there is no need for politics to enter the world of football, which knows how to reform and clean up on its own.