We would sing these lines to the air of ’Two Old Ladies Got Locked in the Lavatory’ when we had beaten City; ‘Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be, Manchester City got Hammered on Saturday’. And today in the boiling cauldron of corruption called the ‘Premier League’ it looks like the financial wrongdoings of the men in Sky Blue have caught up with them. For many years football, as a game, has ceased to exist in its traditional form as bent business and crooked entrepreneurs have stolen the game from the fans. All that considered what we are left with the cards dealt, and with these cards lacking Aces, Kings, Queens, and Jacks we try to turn a ‘pig’s ear into a silk purse’! We try, with increasingly greater difficulties, to make this pile of corruption into the game we were once fanatical over. This corruption, crooked dealings being top of the list, is prevalent all the way through top flight of so-called football and Manchester City are top of the rotten pyramid.
The ‘Blues’ have recently been found guilty of 114 out of 115 financial rule breaches which involves the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the ruling royal family. Man City are owned by billionaires from the UAE with the principal owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, being a member of the ruling Al Nahyan royal family of Abu Dhabi and is also the Vice President of the UAE. Sheikh Mansour owns the club through the Abu Dhabi United Group and the City Football Group (CFG). To him Manchester City are a plaything, a toy he can discard when bored play games with. It would appear the game of Monopoly he chose to play this time with his toy has been a financial dealing too far because even by the standards of corrupt capitalism it is illegal. As the Sheikh moved round the Monopoly Board Officer Edgar Mallory said, ‘Go to Jail, Go Directly to Jail’ but the Sheikh refused telling the policeman to fuck off! He can of course say that because he’s a member of the UAE royal family who own 10-11% of the middle-east’s oil, around 113 billion barrels. Other non-oil wealth sectors include, Gold and Commodities including diamonds and precious metals, Financial Services, Real Estate and Construction are all sources of wealth for UAE and, like most businesses, are open to possible mega corruption just like their Man City venture.
City are appealing, as is their right, and the appeal was launched on 1st October 2026 and is in all probability to be heard within 12 weeks. Are there grounds for an appeal? If it were anybody else the answer would be no because the evidence they are presenting has apparently already being “branded untrue by the Premier League’s independent commission” (Irish Daily Mirror back page Friday 2nd October) therefore it is not new evidence. Manchester City were found guilty of violating Premier League spending rules using “sham arrangements to inflate figures and sponsorship deals to the tune of £900 million”. Apparently, they moved expenses around and used a “sham Fordham arrangement involving player image rights as part of a disguised funding scheme to bypass spending limits”. An independent commission found that “Fordham was funded by the club’s owner, the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), making it little more than a front rather than a genuine independent third party” as City claimed, in plain language a fucking sham.
If they win on appeal the question to asked is, did they win because the law was on their side or because they have the financial clout? The latter would be most likely but under such a scenario both the Premier League and Man City, through their legal teams, are unlikely to leave any evidence of corrupt payoffs. What it will tell us though, once and for all, is the game, already corrupt, is irreparably fucked. Fans could stop attending PL games, but that would make little difference. Many of those crossing the turnstiles today aren’t proper fans of the team but tourists and different tourists every other week at that! Ask the Scousers, Liverpool that is, they carried out a survey. If Man City buy their way out of this then the Premier League will be about as credible as Infantino and FIFA!
City’s legal team are likely to argue “an Abu Dhabi government body – rather than Sheikh Mansour – provided funding at the heart of the financial dispute” (ibid). After the guilty verdict a statement from City said:
The ‘Blues’ have recently been found guilty of 114 out of 115 financial rule breaches which involves the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the ruling royal family. Man City are owned by billionaires from the UAE with the principal owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, being a member of the ruling Al Nahyan royal family of Abu Dhabi and is also the Vice President of the UAE. Sheikh Mansour owns the club through the Abu Dhabi United Group and the City Football Group (CFG). To him Manchester City are a plaything, a toy he can discard when bored play games with. It would appear the game of Monopoly he chose to play this time with his toy has been a financial dealing too far because even by the standards of corrupt capitalism it is illegal. As the Sheikh moved round the Monopoly Board Officer Edgar Mallory said, ‘Go to Jail, Go Directly to Jail’ but the Sheikh refused telling the policeman to fuck off! He can of course say that because he’s a member of the UAE royal family who own 10-11% of the middle-east’s oil, around 113 billion barrels. Other non-oil wealth sectors include, Gold and Commodities including diamonds and precious metals, Financial Services, Real Estate and Construction are all sources of wealth for UAE and, like most businesses, are open to possible mega corruption just like their Man City venture.
City are appealing, as is their right, and the appeal was launched on 1st October 2026 and is in all probability to be heard within 12 weeks. Are there grounds for an appeal? If it were anybody else the answer would be no because the evidence they are presenting has apparently already being “branded untrue by the Premier League’s independent commission” (Irish Daily Mirror back page Friday 2nd October) therefore it is not new evidence. Manchester City were found guilty of violating Premier League spending rules using “sham arrangements to inflate figures and sponsorship deals to the tune of £900 million”. Apparently, they moved expenses around and used a “sham Fordham arrangement involving player image rights as part of a disguised funding scheme to bypass spending limits”. An independent commission found that “Fordham was funded by the club’s owner, the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), making it little more than a front rather than a genuine independent third party” as City claimed, in plain language a fucking sham.
If they win on appeal the question to asked is, did they win because the law was on their side or because they have the financial clout? The latter would be most likely but under such a scenario both the Premier League and Man City, through their legal teams, are unlikely to leave any evidence of corrupt payoffs. What it will tell us though, once and for all, is the game, already corrupt, is irreparably fucked. Fans could stop attending PL games, but that would make little difference. Many of those crossing the turnstiles today aren’t proper fans of the team but tourists and different tourists every other week at that! Ask the Scousers, Liverpool that is, they carried out a survey. If Man City buy their way out of this then the Premier League will be about as credible as Infantino and FIFA!
City’s legal team are likely to argue “an Abu Dhabi government body – rather than Sheikh Mansour – provided funding at the heart of the financial dispute” (ibid). After the guilty verdict a statement from City said:
The whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation – that the owner’s personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi. This is just not true (Irish Daily Mirror page 40).
The Premier Leagues 40-page core decision rejected the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court (CPC) explanation as “untrue” adding:
we concluded that was an explanation that the club concocted well after the event in an attempt to obscure and conceal the realities of the disguised funding scheme. (ibid).
Will City lose their appeal? Don’t bet your house on that, they could, and no doubt will, try behind the scenes to buy their way out of the mess they’ve found themselves in and could well succeed in this. That is the nature of the modern supposed game. After all, what’s the point having royal dynasties as owners if they can’t make, and break, the rules?
Former Manager, Pep Guardiola, appears to have been very clever in all this. He resigned as City’s Manager having just secured the Premier League title at a very opportune moment! Did he expect this verdict coming? If this was the case, how did he work out when to jump ship? Either way he managed to distance himself from Man City at just the right time. City’s alleged corruption began back in 2009 when Roberto Mancini was their manager and the successful years – now at best tainted – were just beginning. The Abu Dhabi United Group bought Manchester City in 2008, a year before these corrupt transactions began. Ironic that! All the same it appears the cunning Pep knew when the time to go had arrived. It may have been helpful having his employers, the UAE royal family who were also his mates, on side. Did they give him the nod? Either way Pep Guardiola has told City fans – tourist and few proper fans left alike – he will “always be there for them”. Where exactly Pep will you be? Why did you not hang around? No doubt Pep will be watching the outcome of the appeal very closely. Should the decision go against the Blues will Pep still “always be there”? ‘There’ perhaps meaning somewhere in Saudi Arabia!
Former Manchester United boss, Alex Ferguson, said regarding Man City’s sudden rise into the big money league; “suddenly City could walk into conversations for players that previously would have been choosing between United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Madrid and Barcelona”. When Emmanuel Adebayor signed for the former Maine Road outfit his people “were still talking to Chelsea” meaning they were out of the conversation the player was having in West London.
Former Manager, Pep Guardiola, appears to have been very clever in all this. He resigned as City’s Manager having just secured the Premier League title at a very opportune moment! Did he expect this verdict coming? If this was the case, how did he work out when to jump ship? Either way he managed to distance himself from Man City at just the right time. City’s alleged corruption began back in 2009 when Roberto Mancini was their manager and the successful years – now at best tainted – were just beginning. The Abu Dhabi United Group bought Manchester City in 2008, a year before these corrupt transactions began. Ironic that! All the same it appears the cunning Pep knew when the time to go had arrived. It may have been helpful having his employers, the UAE royal family who were also his mates, on side. Did they give him the nod? Either way Pep Guardiola has told City fans – tourist and few proper fans left alike – he will “always be there for them”. Where exactly Pep will you be? Why did you not hang around? No doubt Pep will be watching the outcome of the appeal very closely. Should the decision go against the Blues will Pep still “always be there”? ‘There’ perhaps meaning somewhere in Saudi Arabia!
Former Manchester United boss, Alex Ferguson, said regarding Man City’s sudden rise into the big money league; “suddenly City could walk into conversations for players that previously would have been choosing between United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Madrid and Barcelona”. When Emmanuel Adebayor signed for the former Maine Road outfit his people “were still talking to Chelsea” meaning they were out of the conversation the player was having in West London.
At the time you simply accepted they had enormous financial power. You competed with it, that’s football. But if you discover years later that rules were being broken during the period you’re trying to compete with that financial power, you’re entitled to look back differently. Once you change the financial strength of one club, you don’t only change that club, you change where players go. You change title races before the first ball is kicked.
A very good short analysis Alex.
Should City lose their appeal and the charges are upheld what then for the bent champions? They could get a slap on the wrist, depending perhaps on how much the owners are prepared to fork out in bribes. Or the present owners could be barred from owning a football club, becoming deemed ‘unfit’ as happened to Roman Abramovich at Chelsea over something which had fuck-all to do with football! City’s owners may also pull billions of pounds investments out of the UK should their appeal fail and severe punishment is incurred. This would bring outside influences into play and would, no doubt, influence the Premier League when coming to a second decision.
Should City lose their appeal and the charges are upheld what then for the bent champions? They could get a slap on the wrist, depending perhaps on how much the owners are prepared to fork out in bribes. Or the present owners could be barred from owning a football club, becoming deemed ‘unfit’ as happened to Roman Abramovich at Chelsea over something which had fuck-all to do with football! City’s owners may also pull billions of pounds investments out of the UK should their appeal fail and severe punishment is incurred. This would bring outside influences into play and would, no doubt, influence the Premier League when coming to a second decision.
So much is the corruption which makes Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell off the World Cup to the Trump family, among others, not so far-fetched. City could be relegated to the second division – fourth division when football was structured properly – and be stripped of their titles falsely won during the corrupt years, though this is “less common”. Should that happen where do the trophies go? There has been talk of the seasons proven when these illicit transactions took place that Man City have their trophies removed and the runners-up for those seasons be crowned champions. That would mean Man Utd may get City’s tainted silverware something I, for one, would not want. No self-respecting United fan would want these trophies we had not won. Neither, I would hope, would the fans of any other clubs including Arsenal and Liverpool taking these trophies would paint us as “fake” as City.
Perhaps the worst-case scenario could be Manchester City FC are liquidated and cease to exist. They then could reconstitute themselves with different owners under their original name, St. Marks (West Gorton), or Ardwick another former name and restart life in the North-West Counties league, the strata FC United started life, forcing them to work their way back up. This is unlikely because “according to league protocols, an expelled top-flight club would have to apply to rejoin the football pyramid at the lowest tier of professional football, League Two”. This would only act as a punishment if the billions of pounds the UAE royal family put into City is denied them. Man City could not be given an unfair advantage over their peers in the lower leagues so, royal family or not, it’s time to “fold their tents like the Arabs, and as silently steal away”. It has also been touted that Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool and Spurs “could be in line for £200 million each” (ibid). This is a lot of money but small change to the bent owners of Man City. After all the amount of wealth they have is seldom amassed morally honestly! What about teams relegated after suffering defeat to ‘fake’ City? Will they have a claim? The possibilities are boundless! It would not be good for what’s left of football and particularly Manchester Football if City ceased to exist, Derby Day means a lot. Severely punished, yes, but do remember those passing judgement are also bent as nine bob notes themselves.
When Brian Clough took over at Leeds United from Don Revie, he accused the Leeds players of “cheating”. He suggested to players like Billy Bremner, Eddie Gray, Norman Hunter all institutional names at Elland Road, that they “throw away their medals” because they had won them “through cheating”. If ‘Old Big Ead’ were alive today, what would he have said about the goings on at Manchester City?
Perhaps the worst-case scenario could be Manchester City FC are liquidated and cease to exist. They then could reconstitute themselves with different owners under their original name, St. Marks (West Gorton), or Ardwick another former name and restart life in the North-West Counties league, the strata FC United started life, forcing them to work their way back up. This is unlikely because “according to league protocols, an expelled top-flight club would have to apply to rejoin the football pyramid at the lowest tier of professional football, League Two”. This would only act as a punishment if the billions of pounds the UAE royal family put into City is denied them. Man City could not be given an unfair advantage over their peers in the lower leagues so, royal family or not, it’s time to “fold their tents like the Arabs, and as silently steal away”. It has also been touted that Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool and Spurs “could be in line for £200 million each” (ibid). This is a lot of money but small change to the bent owners of Man City. After all the amount of wealth they have is seldom amassed morally honestly! What about teams relegated after suffering defeat to ‘fake’ City? Will they have a claim? The possibilities are boundless! It would not be good for what’s left of football and particularly Manchester Football if City ceased to exist, Derby Day means a lot. Severely punished, yes, but do remember those passing judgement are also bent as nine bob notes themselves.
When Brian Clough took over at Leeds United from Don Revie, he accused the Leeds players of “cheating”. He suggested to players like Billy Bremner, Eddie Gray, Norman Hunter all institutional names at Elland Road, that they “throw away their medals” because they had won them “through cheating”. If ‘Old Big Ead’ were alive today, what would he have said about the goings on at Manchester City?
At Old Trafford we had an iconic song rooted in red Army folklore which some of today’s fans will remember – not including the tourists – ‘If I Die in the Kippax Street’. The Kippax was Man City’s huge terrace, capacity 27,000, down one side of Maine Road. Before segregation United fans stormed the Man City supporter’s part effectively ‘taking the Kippax’ ‘If I die on the Kippax Street, there’ll be ten blue bastards at my feet. If my bones never mend, carry me back to the Stretford End’. Today, should the Blues fail in their appeal, that old Stretford End chant might have a prophetic literal meaning about City dying!!
Another ancient terrace chant I recall: ‘We’re Manchester United and no one can deny, there’ll always be a United team in the days when City die. We’ve won the league, we’ve won the cup, we’ve conquered Europe too, and when we win the league this year, we’ll sing this song to you’ (Air, Puff the Magic Dragon). City dying seems the order and theme past and present, great days now just memories.
Another ancient terrace chant I recall: ‘We’re Manchester United and no one can deny, there’ll always be a United team in the days when City die. We’ve won the league, we’ve won the cup, we’ve conquered Europe too, and when we win the league this year, we’ll sing this song to you’ (Air, Puff the Magic Dragon). City dying seems the order and theme past and present, great days now just memories.
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| Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent Socialist Republican and Marxist. |
