- The reigning English Premier League champion is having trouble proving its income.
- Manchester City had already had complications for its participation in the current edition of the Champions League.
- The Premier’s complaint impacted the value of the City token traded on different cryptocurrency exchanges. Before the complaint, the token was worth $5.50, and this Thursday, February 9, it is trading at $4.58.
Although Manchester City remains in the top positions of the Premier League and has chances of winning the Champions League, things are not going well in the world of token prices linked to its assets.
what happened? The Premier League sued Manchester City for publishing erroneous financial data about profits and salary payments for coaches and players.
According to the indictment, the club breached the rules from the 09/10 to the 17/18 season.
The charge against Manchester’s second-ranked club, the reigning English champions, relates to the infringement of different financial rules and is due to financial information about profits, the payment of coaches’ and players’ salaries, UEFA regulations and assistance with Premier League investigations, according to the top tier of England’s soccer league system.
The alleged breaches would have lasted from the 09/10 to the 17/18 season, meaning Manchester City would have violated the rules more than 100 times.
Manchester City and its financial reporting problems
According to the world’s top soccer league, United’s rival club has failed to provide truthful information about various matters such as the manager’s salary for four years, the club’s cash collection, including sponsors, as well as breaching the Union of European Football Associations’ regulations regarding financial fair play and licensing, and the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability (P&S) rule.
In mid-2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) lifted the UEFA sanction on Manchester City that prevented its participation in European cups for two consecutive years.
The CAS had considered that the English club had not breached financial fair play with an alleged excess of sponsorship income for the signing of more players and that the accounting breaches detected were time-barred.
The FIFA body also reduced the penalty to be paid by the sports club, which was originally set at €30 million, to €10 million.
The club, which belongs to the City Football Group, is facing sanctions ranging from the loss of points to elimination from the English top flight.
This impacted the value of the City token traded on different cryptocurrency exchanges. Before the complaint, the token was worth $5.50, and this Thursday, February 9, it is trading at $4.58.
Manchester City under investigation
In addition, the Premier League accuses its reigning champion of failing to cooperate, due to its failure to provide information and documents needed for the ongoing investigation, which runs from 2018 to 2023.
If the English league’s allegations against the Manchester side are confirmed, the club could face a range of sanctions, including points deduction and elimination from the Premier League.
During the seasons in which Manchester City’s alleged financial defaults occurred, the club won three Premier League tournaments, three Carabao Cups and one FA Cup.
Late last year, U.S. investment fund Silver Lake injected US$500 million (€454 million) into the sports holding company, meaning the acquisition of more than 7 percent of the shares held by China Media Capital in City Football Group.
In this way, the U.S. fund now owns 18 percent of the holding company, which owns several soccer clubs, and the Chinese firm took 5.9 percent of CFG.
Manchester City ended last season with revenues of more than 610 million pounds (almost 700 million euros), an increase of 7.5 percent over the previous season. In addition, the club chaired by Spaniard Ferran Soriano posted profits of 41.8 million pounds (47.7 million euros), a record for the sports club.
In the 20/21 season Manchester City earned 2.6 million pounds (nearly 3 million euros).