The accounts submitted by Man City have not put the club in danger of violating FFP rules.GETTY IMAGES
The Premier League broke its silence on the financial fair play allegations leveled at Man City last week, "promising to act if it finds that any of its own rules have been broken," according to Sam Wallace of the London TELEGRAPH. The club has been hit with "a series of allegations over its finances," including that it "struck a backroom deal" with UEFA, having broken the governing body's FFP regulations. The Premier League does not permit its teams to lose more than £105M ($136.3M) over a three-year period and as things stand, the accounts submitted by Man City "have not put the club in danger of breaching those limits." However, the league made clear on Saturday that if there was new evidence showing that Man City broke FFP rules, "it would act." So far, the Premier League has only seen the reports published by Der Spiegel and "has not been privy to any new evidence or the cache of documents which the Football Leaks website says was obtained legally" (TELEGRAPH, 11/10).
DANISH DALLIANCE: In London, Matt Hughes reported FIFA launched an investigation into allegations that Man City broke rules banning third-party ownership through its relationship with Danish club Nordsjaelland. A report in Danish newspaper Politiken on Thursday claimed Man City signed a contract with Nordsjaelland in May '16 giving it "the right to recruit any player produced by the club's Right to Dream academy in Ghana for the next four years." The deal allegedly states that if Man City wants to sign one of Nordsjaelland's African players, it "shall be obliged to use its best endeavours to effect the transfer," which, if accurate, "could be interpreted as third-party influence over a fellow European club" (LONDON TIMES, 11/9). The BBC reported Nordsjaelland President Tom Vernon said that no players had been "forced" to move -- and the contract in question had "not been in force for some time." He added, "We are confident that we are in compliance with all relevant football regulations in our running of Right to Dream and FC Nordsjaelland" (BBC, 11/9).
'SPORTSWASH': In London, Jack Watson reported Amnesty Int'l accused Man City's owners of trying to "sportswash" their country's "deeply tarnished image" by financing the success of the club. Man City is owned by Sheikh Mansour, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family and deputy president of the United Arab Emirates. Amnesty Int'l Gulf researcher Devin Kenney said, "The UAE's enormous investment in Manchester City is one of football's most brazen attempts to 'sportswash' a country's deeply tarnished image through the glamour of the game. As a growing number of Manchester City fans will be aware, the success of the club has involved a close relationship with a country that relies on exploited migrant labor and locks up peaceful critics and human rights defenders" (INDEPENDENT, 11/10).
'FFP IS A REALLY GOOD THING': In London, Paul Joyce reported Liverpool Manager Jürgen Klopp believes clubs found to have "flouted" FFP rules "should be held to account." Klopp, who became the first manager to speak out on the controversy "engulfing" Man City, among others, said that FFP is a "really good thing" and added that the relevant authorities, in this case UEFA, "should uphold the guidelines in the event of any breaches." Klopp was asked if UEFA should impose strict penalties and offered "a considered opinion" on enforcing FFP as a rule. He said, "It is really difficult to comment but what I can say, in general, is that FFP is a really good thing. ... I think FFP is a really good thing because it sets the rules and stuff like that. If everything is fine, then everything is fine. If not, then somebody should do something" (LONDON TIMES, 11/9).
