There are some sports stories that break off the proverbial backpage and enter mainstream discourse. Jackie Robertson playing in the majors. Lance Armstrong cheating. Eddie the Eagle.
Now, we can add Man City to the story.
For those who haven’t been inundated with this story in their feed, let me give you a quick rundown.
Manchester City is an English football club which has ALWAYS underperformed its more famous crosstown rival, Manchester United. It had won the League Cup (a minor trophy) in 1976, and then been cup less ever since. For a few decades, not getting relegated to the second (or on occasion, THIRD) division was the most their supporters could hope for.
Then, in 2008, Sheikh Monsour and the State of Abu Dhabi decided to buy the club. What happened next was nothing short of a footballing revolution.
A few years prior, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea, and funneled his millions into making them a top club. But even Russian oligarch is nothing compared to the wealth of an oil rich gulf state. City had the cash, and spend it they did.
In the first 128 years of existence, Manchester City had won 12 trophies. After the takeover, they won 25 in a space of 14 years. They went on such a ludicrous spending spree that they STILL have Jack Grealish on £250k per week, who doesn’t even play for the club anymore.
As of today, they are top of the league (albeit five rounds in), and have the league’s best player. But perhaps, not for long.
In a wild twist of fate, a leaked email led to a hacking, which led to an investigation and accusation of 115 charges of financial impropriety. The Premier League doesn’t have a salary cap, but there is a limit to how much clubs can spend depending on their revenue. The rules essentially stop super rich owners pumping in unlimited revenue, and is meant to encourage “organic growth”.
Well, it turns out Man City had been cheating the last two decades. To get around these restrictions, the Abu Dhabi government was co-signing sponsorship deals, where Company X would sponsor Man City for $100m, of which $80m was funneled through the city state. Not to mention their chief sponsor was Etihad, essentially a state owned enterprise.
Man City was found guilty this week, and we still don’t know what the punishment will be. Almost everyone thinks they’ll have a massive points deduction, virtually guaranteeing their relegation. But it could be worse, some have argued they might be kicked out of the pyramid all together, meaning they would have to start at League 7 playing against plumbers and accountants. No one knows, but it’s going to be bad.
How do I feel about this? As readers of this series know, I’m a reasonably keen Newcastle fan. What people may not know, and what may take them as a surprise, is that Newcastle United is the richest club in the world. Manchester United and Liverpool have estimated wealth of ~20-40b.
Newcastle is between 300-700b, courtesy of their ownership by PIF, the Saudi Arabian investment fund. If they wanted, the best 30 players in the world could all be playing up in the North East.
And you know what, that doesn’t actually interest me that much. I’m in it for the long haul, and while it’s always a bugger when the “bigger” teams pilfer your best players, I would much rather a slow and steady rise than an overnight domination.
As for City, cheating their way to success is something I don’t support. Their fans have a right to be angry, but they’ll also have many memories which maybe they didn’t deserve, but were sweet nonetheless.
I don’t know what happens next, but it’s going to be brutal.