Financial Charges Cast Cloud Over Man City’s Dominance

MANCHESTER: Manchester City’s ruthless run to the Premier League title can be traced back to the morning of Feb. 6, when the club was hit with more than 100 charges of financial wrongdoing.

City has not lost a game in any competition since then and is on track to win three trophies, having also advanced to the finals of the Champions League and the FA Cup.

But even if the accusations made by the Premier League appear to have marked a turning point in potentially the most successful season in the club’s history, they continue to cast a cloud over City’s years of dominance in English football.

City has been England’s leading club for more than a decade thanks to the lavish backing of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family. The club was bought by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2008.

The latest title triumph was the club’s fifth in six years and seventh in the past 11.

On Sunday, as City celebrated with its fans at Etihad Stadium — named for a sponsor deal with the state airline in Abu Dhabi — there was no sign that the off-field issues were causing undue concern to supporters or players.

Instead, against a backdrop of blue smoke and explosions of ticker tape, the trophy was lifted to rapturous cheers and City manager Pep Guardiola spoke of his goal to lead the club to its first Champions League title against Inter Milan in Istanbul on June 10.

City’s ongoing supremacy, however, is leading some to look again at the charges against it, with one column in a British newspaper last week asking whether it was “the greatest team or one built on years of cheating?”

City is accused of providing misleading information about its finances over a nine-year period from 2009-18 — a span in which it won three titles and signed some of the world’s best players, like Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne.

During that time, City changed the landscape of European football by becoming one of the most powerful teams in the sport. The club’s exorbitant spending has provided the foundation for the unprecedented success, and prompted questions about whether anyone can halt City’s dominance. (AP)