by dick dastardley » Tue Jul 14, 2020 8:46 am
It's not difficult. Not at all. This is what happened. You may resent Manchester City - BUT THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED.
1. Each country has an elite. The Milan clubs and Juventus in Italy. Bayern and... er... Bayern in Germany. Barca and Real in Spain. The Reds, Liverpool and Arsenal here. And these clubs were comfortable. For coming on 40 years, they spent more than they earned. They hoovered up players from other clubs with ridiculous contracts on offer. It was the way of the world. Money equalled success. And then Chelsea put the wind up them. Along came the Russian gangster (allegedly) and suddenly noses were being put out of joint, both in home leagues and Europe. The other clubs (Chelsea included, because it was too late to boot them out) formed a cartel (illegal under European competition law) to make sure that a Chelsea situation didn't happen again.
2. Initially as an unrelated matter, UEFA started the work that led to the FFP rules. They weren't vaguely concerned with clubs (like City and Paris St. Germain) who had owners that funded the business but left it debt free. FFP was going to be aimed at clubs funded by debt - a wise idea because it would prevent owners who loaded debt onto their investment from running up a bankruptcy worthy loss, then debunking and leaving creditors - including small businesses - in danger of going bust. But the folks at UEFA who contrived this useful barrier were quickly undermined. Every powerful voting corner of UEFA is controlled by the elite clubs, and the centre, self-evidently, was corrupt as hell. Gradually, your Milans and Uniteds and Bayerns pressurised a change of focus to prevent others doing exactly what they had done since time immemorial. In doing so, they ensurerd that an Everton or a Tottenham or a Wolves couldn't break out of the top ten rut. In doing so (an accidental repercussion, but a repercussion nonetheless) they ensured that an Oldham or a Colchester or a Rochdale could not dream of a better future.
But that didn't deal with City or Paris. Hence the pressure on UEFA, the letter from eight of the top ten clubs in England (we love you, Sheffield United) and the recruitment of journalists to damn the club. If you doubt this, note that the FFP relaxation only happened when the Milan clubs obtained overseas investment and thought themselves too restricted in the transfer market.
3. Under pressure from the power group, UEFA launched an action against City that they knew would be supported by their own judgement bodies. A ban from European competition would leave the club stone dead. Some players would leave, and good players wouldn't come. The project would either die or be set back five years. 'You can't do what we did', was the message. 'This is industry politics. We're not just going to push you back. We're going to ruin you.' And all the while (just an example) the Glazers continue to load debt on Manchester United - but despite the early ideals, that's not an FFP matter.
4. UEFA didn't expect the appeal to CAS. They were set up to compromise - a one year ban. That confidence was based on the huge risk City would take by appealing. But City's owners were furious. They knew they hadn't breached the rules since 2014/2015 (the five year rule) and they knew that once an independent body had control they could prove it (incidentally, they also knew they hadn't breached the rules before then, but they'd accepted a fine as a (possibly naive) compromise). City also knew that the case could go as far as the ECJ, where competition law principles would be enforced. And FFP is a flagrant breach of competition law, which focusses on the value of independent (non-cartel) investment. Hence the overall confidence.
5. In the context of this one season, fans of Leicester and Chelsea and Wolves will hate the verdict. But they (and - really - fans of Port Vale and Doncaster and Walsall) should celebrate it. The future, for them, MAY be real again - if the follow-up is carried out as it needs to be). Ignore the money, because it's relative. What City have done today is put pressure on a shameless cartel.
Copied from a guy on FB
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