Finance guru issues ‘controversial’ Man City claim amid new FFP investigation into 16 deals
Football’s spending limits have done a lot of good in the game – but they have also led to “controversy” becoming routine for the likes of Man City.
That is the view of finance expert Doctor Dan Plumley, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the latest allegations of impropriety with regards to Financial Fair Play.
The Sun reported last Saturday (9 July) that a leading Premier League club is being investigated by the FA and HMRC for making offshore payments to agents.
It is claimed that the club in question has used foreign partner teams to disguise 16 payments, with the outlay therefore not calculated into FFP.
City were similarly accused by La Liga president Javier Tebas of violating FFP in June, although there is no evidence the two claims are at all connected.
Documents published by Der Speigel in April do, however, appear to show that City paid former boss Roberto Mancini two salaries, one through the club and one through a seemingly artificial consultancy contract with Al Jazira.
The 2021-22 Premier League champions were also cleared of violating Uefa’s profit sustainability regulations in 2020 partially because allegations were time-barred.
Plumley offered his analysis of the rules that have led to the string of controversies at the Etihad.
“You have to consider the regulations themselves with anything like this,” the Sheffield Hallam University expert told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“Clubs are looking for workarounds in what are essentially football-specific regulations. It’s the Financial Fair Play regulations that they are up against. In a world where there are no restrictions, this isn’t a conversation.
“People in charge at the governance level have implemented those regulations that have done a lot of good in the game but have come with a fair amount of controversy at the same time.
“That’s what it comes down to. That’s why the likes of Man City have in previous cases been accused of trying to circumvent the rules with things like this.”
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