Man City - the new bitters?

[No2]

16 minutes ago, manwiththestick said:

Shitcoat shit stirring as only he knows how.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ce9gz8409jlo

Fantastic 

[cloggypop]

Give him the mutley medal and the bonus. 

[No2]

Halaand manages to make amazing goals look ugly. Some achievement that.

[Sut]

8 hours ago, No2 said:

Halaand manages to make amazing goals look ugly. Some achievement that.

It's his face.

[No2]

Premier sports in Ireland have a pick of any 3pm game every Saturday. For some reason yesterday they chose not show the world's most popular team. Went with Villa v Bournemouth instead. Must be great to have such editorial control you can wave goodbye to 2.5m Irish viewers that would have watch Man City, maybe they thought they would all be at the game.

[Vincent Vega]

Confirmation of what we all thought we knew. 

 

[Vincent Vega]

The article in full.

 

Government asked for updates on Premier League charges against Man City

 

James Cleverly and British Embassy in Dubai asked about the 115 charges facing English football champions, but Foreign Office insist process is independent

 

Senior Foreign Office officials asked for updates about the Premier League’s charges against Manchester City for 115 alleged rule breaches, new documents have shown.

 

James Cleverly, who was Foreign Secretary in the Tory government, asked for an update in September 2023 while the British Embassy in Dubai asked for the latest information on the case as recently as May this year.

 

The information is revealed in copies of emails obtained by The Times from a freedom of information request to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). Although most of the information is heavily redacted on the grounds that it could damage the UK’s relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the emails show that ministers, MPs and officials received updates on the charges.

 

City are owned by Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, the vice-president of the UAE. Emails show the Foreign Office remained insistent it was an independent process being carried out by the Premier League in which it had no involvement.

 

An independent commission’s hearing into the charges began in September and is due to finish in the middle of November, with the outcome announced early next year. 

 

The FCDO emails show an official wrote on September 25 2023: “The Foreign Secretary has asked for an update on the UAE/Manchester City issue. Could you work up a one-page update covering the background, latest state of play and our lines to take?”

 

The response explained the details around the case, stating: “UAE/Manchester City: Manchester City are owned by City Football Group Limited, which is owned by an Abu Dhabi investment group headed by the UAE’s Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

 

“In February 2023, the Premier League referred Manchester City to an independent Commission following alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules. The alleged breaches refer to sponsorship revenue, contracts, and UEFA’s Financial Fair Play Regulations.

 

“This is an ongoing, independent process in which the FCDO has no involvement. [redacted] The FOI is currently being reviewed. DCMS/FCDO approved public lines: Any purchase of a football club is a matter for the owners and potential purchasers to resolve, including meeting any relevant requirement of the league in which they compete. The Premier League’s rules and requirements are independent, as is their investigatory process.”

 

Manchester City are contesting the alleged rule breaches and have said they have “irrefutable evidence” that will support their case. However, if the main charges are proven, sanctions could include relegation from the Premier League.

 

The British Embassy in Dubai also asked for the latest Foreign Office guidance around the case in May 2024 after a report that a settlement in the City case could avoid wider political issues. 

 

The emails also show that a visit by Parliamentarians to the UAE in February 2023, days after the Premier League’s charges against City were announced, apparently included some discussions around the case. An FCDO email states: “Feedback from the parliamentarians flagged that the [redacted]. Please do copy more widely as you think appropriate.”

 

A separate FOI request to the Treasury has revealed that, two weeks before Cleverly’s request for an update, the Treasury’s permanent secretary James Bowler had a meeting with Matthew Hurn, the chief financial official of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala.

 

Much of a memo on the meeting has been redacted but it does reference the fact that Mubadala “manages a $267 billion portfolio of investments” and that “Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, who is Chairman of Manchester City FC, is CEO and Managing Director”. 

 

The meeting included discussions about the “UK-UAE Sovereign Investment Partnership (SIP)” and Bowler “thanked MH specifically for the £800m investment Mubadala made in CityFibre (broadband)”.

 

It said: “We acknowledge that releasing information on this topic would increase public knowledge about our relations with the UAE. However, the effective conduct of international relations depends upon maintaining trust and confidence between governments.

 

“This relationship of trust allows for the free and frank exchange of information on the understanding that it will be treated in confidence. If the United Kingdom does not respect such confidences, its ability to promote and protect UK interests through international relations will be hampered, this will not be in the public interest. 

 

“For these reasons, we consider that the public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the information.”

[Megadrive Man]

The case is not expected to last the full ten weeks either which is a very bad sign. 

[aws]

4 minutes ago, Megadrive Man said:

The case is not expected to last the full ten weeks either which is a very bad sign. 

If true, that would suggest a bit of plea bargaining on at least some of the charges. 

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Not sure we can ascertain anything from the length of the process. Could just as easily see it as a good sign. If City's defence has been deemed inapplicable on one charge it'd likely be the same on multiple, which would curtail proceedings. It's a similar case for the PL's evidence.

 

Could be one side has swung it, could be a plea.

[Creator Supreme]

Bent as fuck, makes me hate Jimmy Dimly all the more.

[No2]

4 hours ago, Megadrive Man said:

The case is not expected to last the full ten weeks either which is a very bad sign. 

The legal lad that used to work for City and is very fair in his commentary of the case said the earlry finish is of no significance. It's fairly standard stuff. That article above is also entirely predictable. 

[an tha]

They are well on their way to completely destroying football and it is hard to see how anything stops them.

[Megadrive Man]

Another defeat for City.

 

 

[Anubis]

Is this true, or more Gooner bollocks? Over to Code.

 

[halewood pete]

[halewood pete]

[Carvalho Diablo]

#PepOut trending on twitter.

[El Rojo]

He should issue a BACK ME in the transfer market or SACK ME ultimatum to his Man City BOSSES.

[Reckoner]

It’s this passive aggression that makes him so endearing.

Try and stay up like Erling. But he played a really good game, congratulations."

[Shitty Arse]

9 hours ago, Anubis said:

Is this true, or more Gooner bollocks? Over to Code.

 

No idea if true but when I turned it on last night, after thinking they’d got beat reading the posts on here, they were still fucking playing and nine minutes added on. 

[Scott_M]

[Scott_M]

Since Oasis reformed, City’s form has also gone back to the 90’s.

[an tha]

On 06/11/2024 at 11:19, Megadrive Man said:

Another defeat for City.

 

 

I am sure their legal team/owners will soon have communications out claiming victory.

[an tha]

19 hours ago, Anubis said:

Is this true, or more Gooner bollocks? Over to Code.

 

My gut feel is more soft cryarsing from arsenal fans.

 

Yesterday for example didn't one of the officials have some sort of technology problem that took 5 mins plus to sort....There was 9 added mins - so that is 4 of 'normal' added time and the 5 for the problem with the technology.