A report has been submitted to the European Union by Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, regarding allegations of financial irregularities involving Manchester City.
It comes at a time when City is waiting for a verdict in relation to 130 charges that have been brought against them for alleged violations of the financial fair play (FFP) rules that are in place in the Premier League.
The Premier League and the reigning English champions are engaged in a separate dispute regarding associated party transactions (APT), which stands for “associated party transactions.”
The Spanish football chief Tebas has called for sanctions, which means that Manchester City could now face another legal challenge from outside the country.
During the Business of Football Summit hosted by the Financial Times, he made the following statement: “We have reported Manchester City to the EU.” Furthermore, despite the fact that they are an English team and not a member of the European Union, they continue to engage in commercial activities in Europe. We initially lodged the complaint in July of 2023, and as of right now, there are regulations in place that enable the European Union to investigate businesses such as City Football Group.
There are two facets to consider. The first thing that needs to be done is to make sure that Manchester City is not cheating the system by using other companies. The second component is a more significant fight to prevent football from falling into the hands of state-owned entities without the assistance of adequate law enforcement.
Our legal action against Manchester City is based on two different aspects. A number of the prices that the club has paid are problematic in our opinion. The club’s ability to impose losses on other related companies that are not directly affiliated with City Football Group is something that we are curious about with regard to.
Tebas continued by saying, “At this time, I am unable to comment on any sanctions that may be imposed on Manchester City in relation to this matter.” The only thing I can say is that when it is determined that a company in Europe, in general, has distorted the market, they are frequently required to return that money. We are advocating for the sanctioning of Manchester City.
Currently, the investigation phase is being carried out on the case. We haven’t had a reply yet. Keep in mind that the European Union has a large number of cases.”
The club Man City declined to comment when talkSPORT attempted to get in touch with them, but it is widely believed that they strongly refute the allegations.
After being accused of “serious breaches of FFP” by UEFA in the year 2020, City was able to successfully overturn a two-year ban from participating in European competitions through the procedures of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
In 2023, the team led by Pep Guardiola was victorious in the Champions League competition.
Tebas, a professional lawyer, provided the following explanation for his complaint: “Manchester City had already been kicked out of European competition for two seasons, but then they went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.” We refer to it as a “court,” but in reality, it is not a court of criminal justice. Manchester City was not found guilty of the crime.
“UEFA was clear in the sanctions. In the case of the charges brought against Manchester City by the Premier League, I am unsure whether the club will be relegated, receive a deduction of one point, or receive fifty points. All I know is that the sanction imposed by UEFA was fair, regardless of the decision made by the CAS.
He continued by saying, “It is imperative that related parties be kept at a distance.” It’s the same in every other sector, so why not football?
Following the purchase of Girona by City Football Group, five players were loaned out to other clubs. All of the valuations were examined. We determined that they were forty times higher than what Manchester City claimed they were. Due to the fact that we utilised our valuation, there was neither a complaint nor a sanction handed down.
