Roberto Mancini signed two contracts upon being appointed as Man City's manager in '09.GETTY IMAGES
Man City is alleged to have "hidden more than half the salary" to former Manager Roberto Mancini when he joined the club in '09, according to Martyn Ziegler of the LONDON TIMES. The latest revelations of leaks published by German magazine Der Spiegel allege that "the bulk of Mancini's salary was paid to him for being an adviser to the Al Jazira Sports and Cultural Club in Abu Dhabi," which is also owned by Sheikh Mansour. Mancini signed two contracts on the same day -- one a base £1.45M a year for Man City, before bonuses, and the other a base £1.75M with the Abu Dhabi United Group, paid into an offshore shell company in Mauritius called Sparkleglow Holdings. The leaks also disclosed the "huge salaries" being paid by Man City to its players. Leroy Sané was guaranteed £24.5M over three years when he joined as a 20-year-old, while Sergio Agüero is paid £18M annually (LONDON TIMES, 11/8).
'SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL TO DAMAGE': In London, James Ducker reported Man City ignored warnings from its staff by "striking a sponsorship deal with a construction company accused of mistreating migrant workers," according to leaked documents. The club pushed ahead with a £7M-a-year regional sponsorship contract with Arabtec, a "controversial" Dubai-based construction company, despite club staff expressing concerns about "the morality of such a deal and the potential impact it would have on their reputation." It is alleged a risk analysis regarding a possible deal with Arabtec was carried out by execs but the club struck a deal despite the report concluding a partnership with the company would have "significant potential to damage the perception and standing of the club and its owners" (TELEGRAPH, 11/7).
PSG PROBE: Ziegler also reported Paris St. Germain opened an investigation into claims that young players were "subject to racial profiling during their recruitment process to limit the number of black players in their academy." French investigative website Mediapart, which cited documents from the latest series of Football Leaks allegations, said that the club's scouts were asked to choose one of four options for every player they watched on an electronic form stating their ethnicity. Their origin was to be described as French, North African, West Indian or African -- "but only white players were noted as French." Social profiling is illegal in France. Based on documents provided by the Football Leaks platform, Mediapart reported PSG's former chief scout in France, Marc Westerloppe, told his colleagues that "there is a problem with the direction of this club ... there are too many West Indians and Africans in Paris." A spokesperson for PSG said, "We are talking about one recruiting unit with a manager who put that in place from 2013 until 2017, without our knowledge." He added that "all these people have left" the club (LONDON TIMES, 11/8).
