Cozzie wrote: Mon Sep 28, 2026 7:27 am
I wonder if they do just get a small slap on the wrist they will face mutiny from the other 19 clubs.
They should all kick up a huge fuss if so as it would ruin the integrity of the whole league if they are allowed to just get away with this.
Chelsea admitted cheating and the clubs that were directly impacted and were arguable denied titles, didn’t seem to give a shit.
Chelsea were charged with 74 offences and that seems to have been brushed-over and bundled into 1. Yes, they self-reported but I’m still shocked by how minor the punishment was and how quickly everyone moved on from it.
Are the seasons when Chelsea won everything now null and void? Or is the City thing worse because they’re Arabs?
Also, is any punishment administered by the PL or an independent body?
I’d actually forgotten that all this only came to light because of that Portuguese hacker. The PL didn’t have a clue.
I hope the other 19 clubs make it clear to the PL that the punishment must be severe enough to impact City for seasons to come.
If not the other 19 are prepared to take individual action against City and throw the league into farce for decades.
MayorFarnham wrote: Mon Sep 28, 2026 10:33 am
I hope the other 19 clubs make it clear to the PL that the punishment must be severe enough to impact City for seasons to come.
If not the other 19 are prepared to take individual action against City and throw the league into farce for decades.
Has to be forever. City either have to be removed from the elite financially or ffp has to go.
They cant have the glass ceiling of ffp if city remain above it.
I think relegation might damage them more than you think. The squad will dissolve and starting almost from scratch will be very difficult even with money. United have shit tonnes and struggle, so do Tottenham. The structure being damaged ruins teams.
Silas wrote: Mon Sep 28, 2026 12:34 pm
I think relegation might damage them more than you think. The squad will dissolve and starting almost from scratch will be very difficult even with money. United have shit tonnes and struggle, so do Tottenham. The structure being damaged ruins teams.
You name 2 teams who despite mismanagement and some awful performances in the league still remain amongst the few who arent affected by ffp and so can still win things. Relegation might see them not win a title for 10 years..... ffp means 15 teams in a higher league will probably never win a title again
Weren't Rangers expelled from the SPL and dropped 4 divisions for mere liquidation.
Active cheating on this scale, then attempting to cover it up, then stifling the process, needs a penalty much greater. Surely the EPL can do more, and name their fine.
Blueomar wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2026 11:35 pm
Should have something like 20 point deduction this year, 18 next, then 16 then 14, then 12, then 10, then 8, then 6, the 4, then 2, along with no champions league or other European tournament for the next 5 years (although I don't think the PL can enforce this themselves, but the deductions should probably account for that anyway).
I don't really care about the past titles, that ship has sailed, you can't take away the joy the fans had in those seasons.
20 points????
Didnt we get half of that for a couple of charges?
Should be 600 points if we going by equivalent punishments.
I don't know why, but I just don't have the same anger on this whole thing at least as far as Man City goes.
All this flows from UEFA and the bigger clubs ring fencing competitions, not on paper, but the end result is the same. They created a beast with the Champions League to keep well established huge clubs happy by funneling vast sums of money to them so they wouldn't break away (and even that wasn't enough for some of them as so many of those clubs still wanted to make a new league where they kept more of the pie for themselves). The Champions League distorted every major league in Europe that year by year pulled up the drawbridge on 99% of clubs to actually win the main prize they're all fighting for which is the league they're in. I mean who here really has thought for decades now when the season started we really had any chance of winning the league? That dream did not die with Man City.
I can't really get that mad at Man City because they wanted to sustainably win things and they realised that never ever would have happened without making up the difference in revenue. Same as Chelsea...and why that whole situation was fine is a mystery to me. Do Man City just need to sell themselves to a friend and have them disclose things for it all be laundered and fine?
I'm not even trying to stand up for Man City, it's all a bit shit all around, but I don't get this thing of pretending almost that the thumb on the scale is not there every season and it's only got more so over time because of the structures set in place by those in top (likely leaned on my the bigger clubs while making those structures). If they had any interest in making actually fair league, where every team has a chance of winning it at the start of the season, it's not obvious in their actions. If we had a league where everyone followed a squad cap so all the talent couldn't be vacuumed up, had an actual wage cap so that teams with huge global presences couldn't fail on repeat until they stumbled to a winning formula etc etc and then they did this I'd be ready to throw the book at them too. I don't know how you separate the two though otherwise.
Also this is an aside, but you look at the ownership and what they've invested into Manchester and compare that to just their neighbours with the leaking roof who are trying to have taxpayers fund their stadium and then firing of the dinner ladies and it feels on some level bizarre that those are the teams the organizations are trying to protect.
I've just seen that City's next game is against Holier Than Thou FC. I'm pretty sure after sitting through Sky's coverage of that I'll be back on City's side.
