Playing for 90
Fansided

Opinion: Despite CAS ruling, Manchester City are still guilty

By Keith Lisenbee

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 05: Josep Guardiola of Manchester City during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Manchester City at St Mary's Stadium on July 05, 2020 in Southampton, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 05: Josep Guardiola of Manchester City during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Manchester City at St Mary's Stadium on July 05, 2020 in Southampton, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
Manchester City
Sheikh Mansour, Manchester City (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) /

Financial Fair Play needs to be reimagined and recreated.

The slippery slope of state-sponsored ownership in English football started with Roman Abramovich when he purchased Chelsea in June 2003.

The Russian-Israeli billionaire obtained his fortune mostly through his relationship with Russia’s presidents during the Russian style crony capitalism that was created in the fall of the Soviet Union.

More from Manchester City

Abramovich’s relationship with the current Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is still in place and resulted in his visa to come to England to not be renewed due to Russian covert operations on English soil.

When Sheikh Mansour bought Manchester City in 2008, he announced that the purchase was a “private” investment and not a part of the United Arab Emirates’ attempt to run a football club.

This statement is inherently untrue. Sheikh Mansour is a member of the UAE royal family, which runs the country. Those two things can not be unhooked from each other.

The government of the UAE is running Manchester City. It’s shirt and stadium sponsor is from an airline, Etihad, the state of the UAE owns. It’s all the same.

It is state-sponsored ownership of private football clubs by entities out of the Middle East, China, and Russia, among others, that is partly responsible for the graft and fraud that is pervasive in world football.

The proper role of government is to protect the individual rights of its people, not use people’s tax money to purchase and run football teams.

Where you see government-sponsored football, you find fraud and lack of transparency. This concern is the case for Manchester City and is the case against Saudi Arabia and its planned take over of Newcastle United.

The issue of state or government ownership of football clubs is where UEFA should adequately regulate. Money in the game should come from private owners that have no direct affiliation with the government.

Financial Fair Play should be re-directed to deal with the graft, fraud, and deception caused by the blurry lines created when the government is directly involved in club ownership and finances.

FFP should not be in the business of determining what private owners do with their clubs from a financial standpoint.

The regulatory bodies should be fighting any fraud and deception that comes from owners in whatever form it takes.

dark. Next. Barcelona star not convinced of a move to Manchester United

If UEFA takes the step of fighting graft, then the game will remain an open free market that, in time, will dramatically improve clubs and leagues.

Home/Manchester City