Finance guru: Man City ‘bending the rules’ as controversial Indian deal analysed
Man City ownership group City Football Group will continue to “bend the rules” regarding gambling sponsorship both in the United Kingdom and overseas.
That is the view of finance expert Doctor Dan Plumley, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about a controversial sponsorship deal signed by City Football Group subsidiary Mumbai City.
As relayed by Inside World Football on Monday (22 August), the Indian side have signed a front-of-shirt deal with Stake News.
Stake News is an affiliate of cryptocurrency-based bookmaker Stake.com, and analysts have suggested that the partnership is a way to circumvent India’s anti-gambling laws.
The Premier League is expected to introduce a ban on front-of-shirt bookmaker deals in the near future.
Plumley forecasts that City Football Group will have no qualms about exploiting “loopholes” to get around the new legislation.
“We have already seen this sort of thing before,” the Sheffield Hallam University expert told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“When you dig deep enough, you can see what’s going on. There will always be this kind of concern.
“With whatever restrictions are trying to be implemented, clubs will want to bend it as much as they can.
“It’s also really tricky when we’re talking about a global platform because some countries’ laws are looser than others.
“When you have got clubs who are covered by an ownership group who own various clubs around the world but the commercial deals are still connected, you have got to account for that as well. It’s an absolute minefield.
“We haven’t seen the ban arrive in the Premier League yet but this is the kind of loophole the guys writing the rules are going to have legislate for.”
In other news, ex-Premier League referee claims Erling Haaland deserves extended ban as Man City controversy missed by BBC cameras analysed.