Blues have ‘nothing to hide’ as FFP verdict nears
CITY have reiterated their claim that they have nothing to hide as they await the verdict from their new financial fair play (FFP) investigation.
Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body is understood to be hearing the charges against the Blues this week, with a ban from the Champions League a possibility if they are found guilty.
But they have made it plain that they will take any punishment to the independent Court of Arbitration for Sport as the investigation that was based on emails which they say have been taken out of context.
New details of the reasoning behind their 2014 Uefa punishment have emerged this week, with claims that the club failed to provide some bank statements and had the accounting methods used on transfer fees rejected by consultants appointed by the European governing body.
That is said to have resulted in Uefa adding around £60m of losses to the figures.
City eventually, and reluctantly, reached an agreement with Uefa which saw them hit with a £49m euro fine, with £32m of that suspended, plus a transfer spending limit, a cap on their wage bill and the imposition of a 21-man squad for Champions League.
In 2018 the Football Leaks website claimed it had internal City emails which showed that Blues owner Sheikh Mansour was channelling extra funding into the club, through main sponsors Etihad, to circumvent FFP rules.
City have strongly denied that, claiming the emails have been taken out of context, and that they disclosed everything to investigators in 2014.
They are also angry that Uefa have acted on documents which may have been obtained illegally.
The man at the heart of Football Leaks, Portuguese Rui Pinto, is in custody in Lisbon, awaiting trial on 90 counts, ranging from computer hacking to extortion.
City replied to the new details, saying: “The 2014 settlement agreement resolved all open matters between the parties and was based on comprehensive information disclosure. The settlement agreement contains confidentiality provisions that prevent City from commenting on both the agreement and the investigation.”
CITY have spent enough money on assembling their squad that they will rightly not get much sympathy from rival fans over injured players.
So deep are their talent reserves that Pep Guardiola’s Centurions were able to rack up 98 points last season effectively without Kevin de Bruyne, the best player in the league from the previous season.
The Blues have nobody to blame but themselves for not strengthening in defence last summer either, when Vincent Kompany departed for a new challenge at Anderlecht.
However, neutrals as well as Blues are allowed to feel disappointment at the cruel bit of luck that has seen the defending champions without Aymeric Laporte for five months.
Where the midfield could step up last season, the defence has simply not been able to this time and so Liverpool have raced away.
On his first appearance since August, the centre-back showed exactly what he adds to the team against Sheffield United on Tuesday night.
The composure was there even before kick-off. Nicolas Otamendi attempted to give some last-minute instructions to the returning star and got a quizzical look that suggested he had never been away. He had, of course, and there was some rustiness early on. A Fernandinho toe-poke stopped what would have been a golden chance for the home team as Billy Sharp tried to take advantage of getting in behind the Frenchman to lay on a team-mate in the box.
On the whole, though, Laporte’s control rubbed off on his team-mates.
In the 12th minute, he popped up on the right side of defence with a