Manchester City and Inter will meet in the Champions League final in Istanbul on June 10. at 10 p.m.
Manchester City can finally achieve tonight what they have been craving since taking over in 2008 under the ownership of the Abu Dhabi royals.
Spanish Pep Guardiola, 52, arrived as Manchester City’s head coach for the 2016–17 season. Since then, City has won the Premier League no less than five times and the FA Cup twice.
Now City can conquer the treble. Among English clubs, only Manchester United 1998–99 has won the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season.
Inter Milan, on the other hand, will play in the Champions League final completely unexpectedly. The pressure is on the English. For many, the FA Cup final, where City faced their local rivals, was a much bigger mountain to climb.
– There is nervousness in the air. This is a historic occasion for City. Now the phrase “sporting immortality” gets thrown around a lot, but it’s also true. We remember the 1999 United team like it was yesterday, we remember the goals in the final, the drama and the incredible achievements of that team, described by a BBC reporter Steve Crossman moods from Istanbul.
City’s amazing spring has been dimmed by harsh accusations of financial abuses and the related investigation, which could take years.
At the same time, England has started to think more and more about whether other clubs have also played within the financially permissible limits, The Independent reminded. After all, Newcastle’s future shirt will probably have the logo of an event company owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF. The same fund also owns the club.
If City are convicted, will it open Pandora’s box?
The reputation of the Premier League is really in danger, according to the British newspapers. City’s success and its bottomless, state resources originating from the United Arab Emirates have caused apathy.
– Now the widespread indifference is mixed with suspicion, and could quickly turn to resentment or anger if City continue to win domestic and European trophies, even though the case against them is still unresolved, the Evening Standard Dan Kilpatrick wrote.
What was it all about?
At the beginning of February, the Premier League broke out bulletin: The Premier League accuses City of more than a hundred violations of financial rules. The investigation had already started in 2018, when Der Spiegel published Documents from the Football Leaks disclosure website.
Regarding City, the documents said, among other things, that the club had exaggerated its sponsorship income and had drawn up secret remuneration agreements.
The shadow contracts were led by the sheikh who owns the club and belongs to the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates Mansour’s to companies. It is suspected that City has tried to circumvent financial regulations by disguising the money received from the owners as sponsorship income.
The range of punishments City could face is wide – from reprimands to fines and even ban from the Premier League.
Most likely, if City is found guilty, points will be forfeited. In the Italian Serie A this season, Juventus finally got a ten-point penalty because of their financial problems.
Read more: Manchester City accused of rule violations that could even lead to relegation from the Premier League – this is what the financial scam is all about
An experienced lawyer will continue working on the case Murray Rosen an independent commission headed by Consultations between the parties are ongoing. Both the Premier League and the club can in due course apply for an amendment to the commission’s decision in arbitration, after which the matter may still end up in court.
City have been spoiled
Head coach Guardiola recently said that he will leave the club immediately if the owners have lied to him. On the other hand, Guardiola said he is confident that City will prove their innocence. Guardiola’s current contract runs until 2025.
In May Guardiola insisted quick decisions from the investigative commission.
– Then, if we did something wrong, everyone knows it.
– At the end of the day, I know that what we won, we won on the field because we deserved it.
In England, a lot of irony has been seen in City’s situation. For example, in the moment when the Premier League boss Richard Masters handed the championship trophy to City in May. That is, the CEO from the same organization that previously acted as a prosecutor in City’s case.
In Britain, the government has wanted to establish an independent panel to investigate clubs for similar abuses.
Guardiola’s demands for a “quick process” were also widely seen as amusing. After all, City is also accused of slowing down the Premier League’s investigations and being uncooperative, as well as not agreeing to deliver the financial documents required by the Premier League.
In addition, City has confused the work of the panel that has since been appointed by arguing about details – such as claiming that the lawyer leading the panel is an Arsenal fan.
Saku-Pekka Sundelin: “City is perhaps the toughest”
On Friday, Ylen’s Uutispodcast had Ilta-Sanomie’s football journalist and football writer as a guest Saku-Pekka Sundelinwho has also worked as a correspondent in England.
You can find the podcast from Areena at this link and at the end of this article.
Sundelin recalled that after City was transferred to the United Arab Emirates ownership, the club initially squandered money completely stupidly. The rise started when the club hired a CEO in 2012 Ferran Soriano and sports director Txiki Begiristainin.
Hiring good managers has been the most essential factor in success. Still, money talks. Of course, City has spent money wisely, improving its training grounds and developing a sense of community and fan base.
In many ways, City’s problems are related to the financial fair play system, which, in short, was created because football’s umbrella organizations try to stop excessive spending of money. The unclear system has been criticized and also challenged in the EU courts.
Last year Uefa reformed the system. According to UEFA, measures to improve the clubs’ balance sheets and reduce debts have been significantly tightened. The biggest change, the federation said, is a regulation that limits the expenses used for salaries, player transfers and agent fees to 70 percent of income.
– It is difficult to distinguish what is the money coming from football, which Uefa accepts, and what is money coming from outside football. And City has messed around a lot here, Sundelin summed up.
– City is not the only team, but it has perhaps been the toughest, Sundel describes the clubs’ movement in gray areas.
The ever-increasing desire of Middle Eastern countries to use sports as a political tool – sports washing, where countries try to polish their public image through sports, is their own angle. Saudi Arabia has come rushing into the sports market through football, golf and formulas.
In Sundelin’s opinion, “some border” had already been stepped on before, but Saudi Arabia has made the situation worse. The crown prince is the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Muhammad bin Salmanwho has been accused, among other things, of being the reporter of what happened at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul Jamal Khashoggi for ordering murder.
Read also: The crown prince suspected of ordering the murder of a journalist is behind Newcastle’s new ownership – this is what the questionable phenomenon of top football is all about
– It’s funny that you have to think about such things when watching top football. It’s really wrong in a way. Not to mention fans who have loved a club their entire lives and have no say in who owns it, Sundelin considered one perspective.
Are there any solutions to the problems?
Sundelin reminds that the environment of top football clubs is “strange”. In ordinary business life, companies operating in similar ways would have gone bankrupt a long time ago.
– But precisely because of the loyal communities, the clubs’ fans, there are no bankruptcies. There’s always a new person who wants to pay off old debts and get a ride. It’s a calling card to the world to own Manchester United or City or something like that.
In England, attempts have been made to develop protection for clubs, because they are perceived as culturally and historically valuable heritage. However, these considerations have not led to anything concrete.
– How can one legally or politically prevent, for example, Saudi Arabia from buying a club, when at the same time Saudi Arabia is Great Britain’s biggest trading partner?
– And when it comes to the moral issues of top football management, sometimes it feels like there is no such thing. Deceased Andrew Jenningswho studied Fifa, said well that the difference between football leaders and mafia leaders is that mafia leaders have some kind of morality.
You can listen below on Friday 9.6. published News podcast.
City’s Arab-owned spending has attracted attention for a long time, but it is not the only football team owned by oil billionaires. Football journalist Saku-Pekka Sundelin analyzes in the Uutispodcast what the bottomless coffers of the Persian Gulf oil giants are doing to football.
Manchester City and Inter will meet in the Champions League final in Istanbul on Saturday 10.6. at 10 p.m.