by Bluemoon4610 » Thu Feb 27, 2025 11:01 pm
[quote="lovecity8utd"]What has the turd said. Sorry,I can’t read the article as it requires a subscription. Thanks.[/quote
Man City accused of trying to circumvent financial rules by La Liga president Javier Tebas
MONACO, MONACO - OCTOBER 29: Javier Tebas, La Liga president give a speech during the SPORTEL Monaco 2024 - Global Sports Media & Technology Convention - Day Two at Grimaldi Forum on October 29, 2024 in Monaco, Monaco. (Photo by Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images For Sportel)
Matt Slater
Matt Slater
5h ago
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La Liga boss Javier Tebas has accused Manchester City of trying to circumvent football’s financial fair play rules by hiding their costs in affiliated companies and likened the situation to the infamous Enron accounting scandal of 2001.
Speaking to journalists at The Financial Times’ Business of Football Summit on Thursday, the 62-year-old Spaniard said La Liga filed a complaint about the club’s alleged behaviour with the European Commission in July 2023 and claimed the Brussels-based body is investigating the case.
Manchester City have declined to comment.
The Spanish league made the complaint a week after the commission introduced a rule banning companies that operate within the European Union (EU) from receiving foreign subsidies that distort the internal market.
Tebas said that while the English champions are obviously no longer an EU-based company, they still play in European competitions and have “commercial activities” within the single market.
Tebas, who has a long history of contentious statements, made his remarks in response to a question about City’s dispute with the Premier League over its associated party transaction (APT) rules, which are primarily meant to stop clubs from banking inflated sponsorship deals.
“What worries me is not the APTs, what worries me is the companies outside the City Football Group (Manchester City’s parent company) where the City expenses are sent,” said Tebas.
“They have a scouting company, a marketing company. That’s where they have very high expenses. They invoice City for less money. City have costs that are less than if they didn’t have this circle of companies.
“All they do is they think about how they can avoid the rules and regulations. We have reported this to the European Union with facts and figures.”
Tebas said that La Liga decided to file a complaint with the EU’s executive arm after it brought in its Foreign Subsidies Regulation, as the Spanish league believes Manchester City are subsidised by Abu Dhabi-based companies and funds with close links to club owner Sheikh Mansour, the vice president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.
City and 12 other clubs worldwide make up the City Football Group (Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)
“Taking into account their relationship with the sovereign fund of Abu Dhabi, we asked for these things to be checked,” said Tebas.
“It’s really important that all clubs are subject to transparency rules and governance and real competition in the financial and sporting side of their business. If it’s not controlled — and we do control — it means football ends up in the hands of states.”
He then likened Manchester City’s alleged behaviour to the actions of American energy company Enron, which filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after reports emerged of widespread internal fraud over a number of years. The case, which was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. corporate history at the time, also led to the collapse of Enron’s auditors, Arthur Andersen.
“You remember the case in the U.S., the Enron case,” said Tebas.
“They put losses into different companies. These are similar cases.”
Tebas said La Liga has not had any response from the European Commission.
“So it must be in the investigation phase,” he said.
Tebas, a lawyer by trade, explained that La Liga has previously filed a similar complaint against Paris Saint-Germain on the basis that the French champions’ Qatari owners are distorting the EU market via inflated sponsorship deals with Qatari companies.
La Liga announced that complaint in a press release in August 2023 but there has been no further news on its progress.
The Athletic has contacted the European Commission for comment.
When asked if La Liga was also concerned about Newcastle United, who are majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, he said the Premier League club have not done anything to warrant a complaint yet.
While Manchester City have declined to comment on Tebas’ claims, their accounts are a matter of public record and there is no obvious sign of the club using a web of related companies to hide their costs, although they do share senior staff with City Football Group, their parent company.
This, however, is not against football’s rules or unique, as several leading clubs are now part of multi-club groups that share resources.
It should also be noted that Tebas’ remarks have nothing to do with Manchester City’s other dispute with the Premier League, the so-called “115” case. A result in that case is expected in the coming weeks.