Naughty Emirates Marketing Project - Spot of Compo??

[Finney Is Back]

Key findings include:
• The club arranged ‘sham’ contracts with commercial partners (and relied on other ‘sham’ agreements) that misrepresented the true arrangements. These formed part of a disguised funding scheme in which sponsors paid only a portion of the fees, with the rest funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG, the club’s owner). Additional ‘sham’ arrangements (also funded by ADUG) artificially reduced reported operating expenses, and a ‘sham’ circular deal involving Fordham (for players’ image rights) was likewise used.
• The schemes artificially inflated revenues and reduced costs by more than £900 million during the period, allowing the club to appear to comply with financial rules.
• As a result, Emirates Marketing Project filed misstated accounts, concealed the true state of its finances from auditors and regulators, and was significantly in breach of both the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules and UEFA’s Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Rules. Accurate reporting would have shown substantial breaches of spending limits.
• The Commission concluded the club “clearly intended to circumvent the PL Rules.”
• During the Premier League’s four-year investigation, the club committed multiple breaches of its duties of co-operation and utmost good faith, making “concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the PL investigation” (three of four alleged co-operation breaches were upheld).

IMO all of this means that the whole period from the start of the cheating until now need to be taken into account. The repeated years of serious cheating have significantly inflated Emirates Marketing Project’s commercial appeal since that time period. This wasn’t just timing related FFP breaches like Everton’s or Forest, it was systemic, planned, covered up cheating on a grand scale. Every trophy won since is a sham. Every point gained is worthless. Expulsion from the whole football league is the only punishment that befits the crime IMO.

 

[Muttley]

In some ways this is the biggest fallout City face.

It would do them a favour if one sanction is the owners are disqualified from owning the (or a) club. (And thinking about it I can't see how that won't be one of the outcomes, you can't systemically act and behave like they have and still be welcome, it would be ridiculous)

City can rebuild from lower down, with a clean slate, albeit with that shadow of the past.

It's actually different from most other clubs in this situation. It is Emirates Marketing Project Council that own the stadium. It's just like the Greater London Authority owning the Olympic Stadium. They already have the biggest asset required to re-form down the AFC Wimbledon route.

 

[glasgowspur]

It is a massive, massive story but I'm not sure what the media can do. It's been reported and lots of pundits and journalists have hammered City especially. They can't veer into the territory of hysterical or their credibility goes and that's not their job.

City will be viewed like Lance Armstrong and Ben Johnson. Armstrong became a byword for cheating 20 years ago, Johnson was 40 years ago. Everywhere they go, they'll be ridiculed and abused. In 2066, people will still remember that they are cheats. Their history is forever stained.

This won't go away for them. This won't be forgotten. All football fans now have a common enemy.

City are a pariah football club.

In Some ways there is huge echoes of the lance Armstrong case, everyone knew he was cheating but kept it under wraps "for the good of the sport", ie, I'm making money of off this guy.
Only one journo from the Sunday Times pursued it and eventually was vindicated after years of abuse and intimidation.
That is what has been lacking here, not just with city but with Chelsea as well, the media has handed them nothing but bouquets, no one called them out.
Fans knew it, how many of us said it doesn't matter what they win, it's meaningless because they are cheating, there has been loads.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

Premier League vs. Independent Football Regulator Powers (AI...so pinch of salt)

• • Premier League Authority: The Premier League operates as a private association of clubs. It can impose severe sporting sanctions under its own handbook rules—including massive financial fines, points deductions, or outright expulsion/relegation from the division for breaking Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) or league statutes. However, it does not hold a formal government licensing framework.
  • The IFR Licensing Regime: Following the Football Governance Act, the independent statutory Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has the power to issue, suspend, or revoke official operating licenses for clubs across the top tiers of English men's football.
  • Revocation Grounds: The IFR can use license suspension or revocation as a last-resort enforcement tool for extreme non-compliance, failure to meet financial/non-financial resource thresholds, or unfit ownership and management.

 

[DeanoAustin]

In Some ways there is huge echoes of the lance Armstrong case, everyone knew he was cheating but kept it under wraps "for the good of the sport", ie, I'm making money of off this guy.
Only one journo from the Sunday Times pursued it and eventually was vindicated after years of abuse and intimidation.
That is what has been lacking here, not just with city but with Chelsea as well, the media has handed them nothing but bouquets, no one called them out.
Fans knew it, how many of us said it doesn't matter what they win, it's meaningless because they are cheating, there has been loads.

That's fair comment. Obviously, media need to careful with libel laws and a club as litigious as City. However, some of the clues were in plain view. City's revenue exploded in a way that was unrealistic. Good journalism highlights those facts and asks the hard questions of the people in power. I'm not sure that happened in this case really.

 

[glasgowspur]

That's fair comment. Obviously, media need to careful with libel laws and a club as litigious as City. However, some of the clues were in plain view. City's revenue exploded in a way that was unrealistic. Good journalism highlights those facts and asks the hard questions of the people in power. I'm not sure that happened in this case really.

Too many riding the PL gravy train, don't want to derail it.
Media and SM make a killing from the PL, bad news stories of this kind are a danger and get buried.

 

[DeanoAustin]

Too many riding the PL gravy train, don't want to derail it.
Media and SM make a killing from the PL, bad news stories of this kind are a danger and get buried.

That's a danger here that I haven't heard spoken about much. Is the PL brand tainted? They've basically ruled that what we've watched for the last 15 years hasn't been a fair sporting contest.

The PL's financial advantage is colossal now but once upon a time Serie A had a massive advantage and it disappeared. Could the PL suffer similar damage?

 

[billyiddo]

That's a danger here that I haven't heard spoken about much. Is the PL brand tainted? They've basically ruled that what we've watched for the last 15 years hasn't been a fair sporting contest.

The PL's financial advantage is colossal now but once upon a time Serie A had a massive advantage and it disappeared. Could the PL suffer similar damage?

If they come down hard on City i think it keeps the reputation in tact

 

[Lemonade Money]

Too many riding the PL gravy train, don't want to derail it.
Media and SM make a killing from the PL, bad news stories of this kind are a danger and get buried.

Really? I'd say they spend far more time looking for gossip and controversy, than reporting tactics for example.

 

[Kandi1977]

This is brilliant!

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Muttley]

That's a danger here that I haven't heard spoken about much. Is the PL brand tainted? They've basically ruled that what we've watched for the last 15 years hasn't been a fair sporting contest.

The PL's financial advantage is colossal now but once upon a time Serie A had a massive advantage and it disappeared. Could the PL suffer similar damage?

I was trying to think back about the timelines of what you wrote. There would have been a time in the 90s when we would be sitting around our TVs watching Walker, Gazza, Platt etc on a Sunday afternoon. In my case it was after Sunday morning footie with a belly full of beer. Would that have been mid to late nineties? Any coincidence that the formation of our own PL coincided with them losing that financial advantage maybe?

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

Really? I'd say they spend far more time looking for gossip and controversy, than reporting tactics for example.

I think this type of story (and controversy) is on a whole different level. Plus it doesn't fit in to the desired constantly changing 24hr news cycle. Furthermore hardly any journos or fans can be arsed with the intricacies of finance and accounting... usually a blank look if discussed.

 

[DeanoAustin]

I was trying to think back about the timelines of what you wrote. There would have been a time in the 90s when we would be sitting around our TVs watching Walker, Gazza, Platt etc on a Sunday afternoon. In my case it was after Sunday morning footie with a belly full of beer. Would that have been mid to late nineties? Any coincidence that the formation of our own PL coincided with them losing that financial advantage maybe?

Yeah, that's exactly the time period I'm thinking. Probably from the early 80s to the late 90s. Think the riches of the PL from broadcasting and some of the scandals in Italian football contributed to Serie A's demise albeit I'm sure someone more informed than me could give a more complete and in depth opinion.

The PL's advantage now is much, much greater than Italian football ever had but could this taint the brand and diminish some of that advantage? Would imagine the likes of Madrid and Barca, those paragons of sporting virtue, would be trying to make the most of this given the resentment they, along with the Italian and German clubs, feel towards the PL.

 

[Mr Gogolak]

I’m sorry, but I don’t buy that. The reason why clubs go to, and indeed beyond, their financial limits is to try to compete with the clubs you mentioned. Those clubs have done more than any others to distort the market. Clubs have to pay players huge salaries because another club will if they don’t, it is the same story for transfer fees.

If Emirates Marketing Project ceased to exist then nobody but Emirates Marketing Project fans would really even notice, and I would imagine that AFC Emirates Marketing Project or some such club would be formed, be well supported and rise through the leagues over a not too lengthy timeline.

if football runs out of willing billionaires to invest then that would be brilliant. Football doesn’t need an ever expanding level of financial backing to survive, and indeed, thrive. In fact I think the product would be better if there were no billionaire owners.

First, I'd like to make it clear that what I want as a football and what I think will happen are two very different things. Football wasn't perfect when the Premier League was formed and the early years have seen a number of very questionable refereeing decisions for instance, but it has undoubtedly grown worse since then.

The point isn't, would English football be better off without Emirates Marketing Project and their State-funded owner. I see some of their fans are making the argument that we would miss them. Of course, we wouldn't.

However, how do you organise the deflation of wages and transfer fees? You can't. Even before Abramovitch and Abu Dhabi, Champions League money alone was enough to create an inflation. A lot of top European clubs are spending more than they earn. Most of them use a projection of future transfer fees to balance the books. Even if you could, somehow, cap transfer fees and wages, you'd send these clubs into bankruptcy, with the risk of a systemic collapse.

Football doesn't need an ever expanding level of financial backing to survive, but the economy does. Add to that the fact that FIFA clearly aren't pushing for a control of expenditures, and get the picture. Even if City's owners were banned (which isn't a given), another State-funded group could decide to take over. When Abramovic sold, a lot of people thought Chelsea were done and they kept on spending crazy money.

We'll see what the punishment is. I'd be surprised if it's anything close to what they deserve, but I'll be more than happy to tip my hat to you if it is!

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

I have to say Pep’s statement just now is an absolute disgrace. If he stopped at ‘I feel for the fans’ I would understand, even the players. but he goes the whole hog, being with the ‘owners until the end’.

Bizarre behaviour and a sure fire way to taint his legacy.

 

[MartyFunkhouser]

First, I'd like to make it clear that what I want as a football and what I think will happen are two very different things. Football wasn't perfect when the Premier League was formed and the early years have seen a number of very questionable refereeing decisions for instance, but it has undoubtedly grown worse since then.

The point isn't, would English football be better off without Emirates Marketing Project and their State-funded owner. I see some of their fans are making the argument that we would miss them. Of course, we wouldn't.

However, how do you organise the deflation of wages and transfer fees? You can't. Even before Abramovitch and Abu Dhabi, Champions League money alone was enough to create an inflation. A lot of top European clubs are spending more than they earn. Most of them use a projection of future transfer fees to balance the books. Even if you could, somehow, cap transfer fees and wages, you'd send these clubs into bankruptcy, with the risk of a systemic collapse.

Football doesn't need an ever expanding level of financial backing to survive, but the economy does. Add to that the fact that FIFA clearly aren't pushing for a control of expenditures, and get the picture. Even if City's owners were banned (which isn't a given), another State-funded group could decide to take over. When Abramovic sold, a lot of people thought Chelsea were done and they kept on spending crazy money.

We'll see what the punishment is. I'd be surprised if it's anything close to what they deserve, but I'll be more than happy to tip my hat to you if it is!

Football has been a broken model for a long time, very few fans advocated for it to be fixed. If fans are going to be honest with themselves they bayed for the spending also

 

[Legohamster]

I have to say Pep’s statement just now is an absolute disgrace. If he stopped at ‘I feel for the fans’ I would understand, even the players. but he goes the whole hog, being with the ‘owners until the end’.

Bizarre behaviour and a sure fire way to taint his legacy.

He knew
He's in on it

Thought if they weee found guilty he would be angry because he had been lied to?

 

[MartyFunkhouser]

He knew
He's in on it

Thought if they weee found guilty he would be angry because he had been lied to?

"I am with you"

Yeh like fcuk you are, you left the summer before knowing this was coming

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

He knew
He's in on it

Thought if they weee found guilty he would be angry because he had been lied to?

Absolutely, that would be the normal reaction wouldn’t it.

I think this is very much going to be like the people who work for Trump, in the sense that they had ‘respectable’ positions and see how far they go defending his line before inevitably he chucks them out.

Maybe a better way to say it is that Pep is going to be Khaldoon’s Rudy Giuliani.

 

[Gutter Boy]

I was trying to think back about the timelines of what you wrote. There would have been a time in the 90s when we would be sitting around our TVs watching Walker, Gazza, Platt etc on a Sunday afternoon. In my case it was after Sunday morning footie with a belly full of beer. Would that have been mid to late nineties? Any coincidence that the formation of our own PL coincided with them losing that financial advantage maybe?

Football Italia's boom actually coincided with the birth of the EPL. There were no terrestrial games being shown (ITV lost the rights to show The Big Match on sunday afternoons in 1991) and Sky ownership was very rare, so Channel 4 capitalised and everyone picked an Italian team. Football Italia's peak was 1992-1996, and fizzled out around about 2000 or 2001.

The swing from Italy back to England began around 1996 when the likes of Zola and Ravanelli started showing up. They weren't the very elite of the Italian game, but they were just off the summit.