Manchester City

[The_weatherman]

Glad I don't have to make this decision, I changed my mind. This mess is not the players fault, or Pep's, so they should keep what titles they won on the pitch. But give them a points deduction next season plus the Europe ban. Stay tuned for my next opinion on this.

[frank the tank]

[frank the tank]

i know what you are saying. On the pitch it was won fair and square....... however, the fact that they - as an organisation - made the playing field skewed in their favour, leaves a sour taste.

Not sure I agree with the whole "on the pitch" argument wholeheartedly to be honest though. Although that might be skewed by the fact that their players - pretty much 90% plus of them - are horrible cunts. I still remember what they sang about LFC when they won the league last year.

I think questions about the whole administering of FFP should be called into account at this time too. Apparently this relates to financial doping in between 2011 and 2016?? Stevie Wonder could see that there was something dodgy going on. John W Henry publicly said so as well. How come it takes all this time and a whistle-blower / hacker to expose this via a newspaper?? Surely all club accounts should be open to inspection if UEFA really want to administer this correctly. Just follow the money ffs.

And it is a bit like Saracens too in relation to the players. If the City players are being paid one transaction per pay period, then that it fine. But if there are multiple payments via different sources, then take their ****in medals back. They were either too stupid to realise that they were playing for a club that was financially doping or knew about it.

[Pablo]

i know what you are saying. On the pitch it was won fair and square....... however, the fact that they - as an organisation - made the playing field skewed in their favour, leaves a sour taste.

Not sure I agree with the whole "on the pitch" argument wholeheartedly to be honest though. Although that might be skewed by the fact that their players - pretty much 90% plus of them - are horrible cunts. I still remember what they sang about LFC when they won the league last year.

I think questions about the whole administering of FFP should be called into account at this time too. Apparently this relates to financial doping in between 2011 and 2016?? Stevie Wonder could see that there was something dodgy going on. John W Henry publicly said so as well. How come it takes all this time and a whistle-blower / hacker to expose this via a newspaper?? Surely all club accounts should be open to inspection if UEFA really want to administer this correctly. Just follow the money ffs.

And it is a bit like Saracens too in relation to the players. If the City players are being paid one transaction per pay period, then that it fine. But if there are multiple payments via different sources, then take their ****in medals back. They were either too stupid to realise that they were playing for a club that was financially doping or knew about it.

Absolutely. They would never have been able to attract and afford Guardiola without all that laundered money. I have sympathy for some of the players, but I'm sure lots must have known what was going on.

I suspect what has leaked is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of illegal **** they've been up to. What about their hilariously low wage bill for instance, has that ever been looked into because it's a joke. They clearly are paying players off the books somehow. Every single way they could break the rules they have. They deserve all that's coming to them.

[McDermotX]

Definitely take the titles off them, but don't reallocate them would be my stance.
Lot of ex-players, pundits, even Klopp to an extent the other day will put forward a level of sympathy for the footballers/Pep (but only publicly in a lot of cases), but ultimately they only found themselves in those advantageous positions due to their dodgy methods, so as a club, everyone should pay the price.

Should be a big fine as well as well considering they cheated their way to the allocated prize money, plus the point deduction (say 20pts from next season if they are not getting demoted to begin with).

Deserve everything they get if you ask me and hopefully the PL would show some balls as long as UEFA hold firm.

[Pablo]

Yeah reallocating titles is never going to happen. I like the idea of the * next to their title wins though. They really are tainted titles (love the irony here).

I really think the PL should be docking them points for next season too. I agree 20pts, but I suspect it'll be something **** like 5-10pts in the end.

It really puts us in an ever better position if that happens, but it's reward for doing everything the right way.

[McDermotX]

5-10pts and no demotion, would be just like the PL alright.

Important stage this for the game in England. We all know the PL/FA have differing rules around FFP and fit and proper etc compared to other bodies, but a line needs to be drawn in the sand here to act as a guide for the future of top flight football ownership.

This UEFA ban has given the PL an opportunity to act in it's own and everyone else's best interests.

[Fosterbloke]

I would piss my pants if they got demoted, I really would.

[Lecter]

No chance they will even get a single year ban - UEFA will probably soon 'reverse' their decision claiming some BS about some new 'data' has been made available. Failing that, if it does go to the CAS, they will be paid off handsomely and miraculously come to the finding that City were treated unfairly.

Their cheating affected all competitions so they should be punished across all competitions also.

Not sure

Theres been lots of pressure put on UEFA by 5 or 6 clubs (Madrid, Barca, Bayern, United, Chelsea & us) we have apparently as a group threatened to breakaway and form a Super League if UEFA dont start clamping down on City and PSG

[Lecter]

What good is a points deduction this year, given our position they are extremely unlikely to win the league. it's only likely to be about 10-12 points which would probably just see them finish 2nd rather than 3rd and if the UEFA ban is upheld they won't be in CL anyway, it would be a nothing punishment. Their breaking of the rules has allowed them to win a number of trophies, if the punishment is to match the crime strip them of those titles and and impose a punishment that removes their unfairly gained advantage going forward (tighter FFP rules, reduced squad size, denial of revenues or a transfer ban) . A points deduction this year is the ultimate hollow gesture.

Points deduction would be from next season

[Roboklopp]

Chelsea have a nerve. And Real have always been bailed out by the government.

[Lecter]

Clearly City are going to challenge this on the basis of it not being an independent process (as they have claimed multiple times in public) as well as any other technicality that they can find.

But I have also seen suggestions that they might challenge the legal basis of FFP. Now my understanding is that all clubs had to agree to FFP in order to participate in UEFA competitions and effectively as it is their competition they are able to make the rules that they want, so is there really a basis for such a challenge? Or can other non-footballing laws (such as competition laws) overturn this rule?

I wonder if Ben Johnson could challenge the IOC for breaking their rules when he won the Olympic 100m after taking performance enhancing drugs

After all its probably a breach of his human rights

[Lecter]

This is a good article which picks apart most of what City fans hope is going on and has gone on.

They are bang to rights.

David Conn is brilliant his explanation about how they actually circumvented FFP rules is top notch.

Ian Herberts piece about how they sold image rights to Fordham is also very interesting

The scale of Citys deception is enormous and I think many City fans completely misunderstand why UEFA have banned them.

[Lecter]

Chelsea have a nerve. And Real have always been bailed out by the government.

Of course they both have a nerve

Chelsea have actually reigned in their spending since the introduction of FFP

Madrid were bailed out by their local council who bought their training facility I think this is still under investigation though but crucially as with PSG, Madrid are co-operating with the UEFA investigation City have never done that

[The_weatherman]

The scale of Citys deception is enormous and I think many City fans completely misunderstand why UEFA have banned them.

I think this is key, maybe when the dust settles they might see it differently, like us and Suarez.

However, it's uncomfortable seeing so many City fans acting all big because their club's owner is a billionaire, and that they will get out of this because of their resources. Just don't like that attitude one bit, and I hope it doesn't carry over in other aspects of life.