Manchester City Investigated for Financial Crimes over the Past 9 Years

Since the club’s purchase by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, Manchester City has grown to become a dominant force in English football. Their on-field success has been inarguable during the tenure of current manager, Pep Guardiola: over the last five years, they’ve picked up four Premier League titles and a slew of domestic cup victories, too.

Recently, however, the club has found itself in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons.

What happened? 

On February 6th, the Premier League announced that it was charging the club with more than a hundred financial breaches between 2008 and 2018. This was a white-collar crime investigation into the financials of the club.

What did they find?  

The Premier League has determined that the club’s finances have been falsely declared over a nine-year period, during which they won three premier league titles. The club is alleged to have paid employees more than once in order to get around the rules governing financial conduct. For example, former manager Roberto Mancini was paid extra via an Abu Dhabi club, as was leaked back in 2018. 

Why is this such a big problem? 

It might be difficult for the average sports fan to put this kind of malpractice into the same category as, say, taking banned substances in order to illegally boost performance. Financial doping does, however, put a team at an unfair advantage over the rest of the field.  

If nineteen clubs agree to play by a certain set of rules, and another flouts those rules, then the integrity of the sport is compromised. Just imagine if the offside rules were to apply differently from one match to the next.

This might result in sponsors pulling out, fans boycotting games, and a general loss of interest in the Premier League – which, as it stands, is an enormously profitable entity.  

What could this mean? 

This is a crime without precedent, and so it’s difficult to see what the punishment might be. Is the situation reminiscent of the scandal which engulfed Juventus in 2006? Or is it more like Lance Armstrong? 

It seems unlikely that a financial penalty will be levied, since the club has the backing of an oil-rich nation-state. The other clubs might be agitating for a points deduction or a relegation, for understandable reasons of self-interest. Whatever happens, the situation is likely to drag on far beyond the current season, as appeals are lodged and disputed. 

We should note that the Premier League might decide to ultimately come down hard on Manchester City, in order to indicate that an independent football regulator isn’t really required. Whatever the final outcome, it’s unlikely to arrive soon.