UEFA’s investigatory chamber, the austerely named Club Financial Control Body, has decided that Manchester City’s spending under Sheikh Mansour’s stewardship has not exactly complied with their sparkly new FFP rules. We are led to believe that a punishment that brings together both financial and sporting sanctions has already been offered to the club and that, if it is accepted without a whimper, there will be no need for recourse to an appeals tribunal and possible heavier sanctions if such an appeal were to fail.
Although not entirely clear how a squad restriction penalty might function, what is clear is that City’s accounting regarding a number of grey-to-black areas has indeed fallen foul of UEFA’s phalanx of bean counters. This must not come as a huge surprise, as City’s recent adventures into the world of womens' football and franchises in the United States and Australia have involved some heavy spending and some creative accounting that UEFA appear to have baulked at.
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On top of this, sponsorship deals with companies heavily linked to the Abu Dhabi royal family have not helped clear muddied waters, giving the impression perhaps that certain deals have been inflated beyond their true worth. Some would argue it is up to the parties involved to decide the true worth of a sponsorship package, but for that you would have to speak to Platini, an army of accountants and Jean-Luc Dehaene, the ex-Belgian PM, who -- despite a banking failure of massive proportions on his watch some years ago -- is UEFA’s head of the investigatory chamber.
While massive spending on the regeneration of dilapidated areas of Manchester around the stadium will balance the argument somewhat, it appears the millions offset from this have not been enough to calm the those feverish fingers tapping away at calculators. The deadline to agree with the sanctions is short, leaving room for manoeuvre and space for negotiation at a premium. However, the club will have been fully briefed and prepared for this outcome. It was, after all, only ever going to either pass or fail the test.
It is tempting to imagine just what City’s squad might look like if it is restricted in size for this competition next season, but those of us having nightmares about who or what might be drafted in are likely to be pleasantly surprised. This is UEFA’s first attempt at putting a break on overspending clubs and -- as they feel their way -- they must be seen to be attempting to be inclusive rather than exclusive, especially when it comes to clubs who might be trying their hardest to break into what many fans consider a closed shop or cartel at the top of the football mountain.
Many will ask how clubs who complain about City’s finances are meant to challenge for a place at the top without spending massive amounts of money. It is an argument that has swirled around football for years, creating a new breed of football fan, who argues for organic growth and balanced payments instead of burly centre-forwards and a new right-back. Oh, for the days when you drew Dinamo Tbilisi or Fenerbahce or Dudelange in the first round and, if they happened to be better than you over two games, you were out.
UEFA have chosen another route for modern football, one paved with untold riches for those that participate in its blue-chip competition. By creating this festival, it has also created a lust for the cash it brings. It must now find a fair way of opening this up to all clubs and not just the tiny elite that occupies the narrow space at the top. The air is thin at the summit and the space is confined. Platini’s old side Saint-Etienne once graced a European Cup final with a side of flair and panache. The likes of Nottingham Forest and Feyenoord were frequent European campaigners. Cologne, Dynamo Berlin and Anderlecht would appear in the latter stages.
To see the likes of PSG, Zenit, Atletico Madrid and indeed Manchester City giving new colour and impetus to the old competition must be what the sport is all about. After all, a Bayern-Real match is a thing of beauty but will not be considered so if we are forced to watch it every single year. That all these newcomers have had to spend a king’s ransom to even be vaguely competitive should leave UEFA’s bigwigs with more than just FFP to consider in the future.