Play0:57Do financial charges against Man City tarnish Premier League dominance? In fact, they've been a better-run club from a sporting perspective at pretty much all levels. In other words, they haven't spent more than the superclubs, they've simply spent better. For most of the past decade, City have been in the top five or six in Europe in terms of salaries and net transfer spending, but rarely No. City's spending on wages and transfer fees is huge, but no more than the rest of Europe's elite. However, it's worth putting all of this into material context. It is possible that they'll be hit with some sort of massive punishment from the Premier League? Maybe, though given the diabolically slow pace of the deliberations - made slower by City's many legal challenges - we won't know for a very long time.Īll of the above is part of the City story, and it's pretty much indisputable that, without Abu Dhabi's support, they would not have grown into a position where they can compete with Europe's traditional elite. Is it likely they're violating the spirit of the law? Possibly. Nobody held a referendum on whether it was good use Abu Dhabi's money.Īnd yes, it's rational to believe that City benefits from massively inflated sponsorships from companies owned by or related to Abu Dhabi.ĭoes it violate rules? Read the 2014 judgement and the 2020 CAS ruling and make up your own mind. This is an absolute monarchy that chose to take a portion of the country's riches and spend it on Manchester City. It's entirely legitimate to have an issue with the owners, and the "state-owned" club tag matters, I think - especially since this isn't a place with democratic elections. You can separate the two things: the job Guardiola, the club and the players have done on one hand, and who the owners are and how the club may or may not have violated rules on the other. The VAR Review: Liverpool offside goal, Tyrone Mings red card, Arsenal penalty6hDale JohnsonEurope's top soccer leagues: What's at stake this weekend?1dChris WrightFirmino's late leveller means Man United and Liverpool are still fighting for top-four finish2dESPN And, of course, the Premier League has charged them with over 100 counts of financial malpractice from 2009 to 2018 - if they are proved, in theory, City could be expelled from the league. They were found in breach of the rules in 2014, they were banned for two years in 2020 and while the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the ban (saying the charges were either unproved or time-barred), City were issued a record fine for obstructing the investigation. Some Manchester City fans will get annoyed at the mere mention of it, and it has to do with the club's ownership and the way they have dealt with financial sustainability regulations over the past 10 years. Of course, there's an elephant in the room. Ogden: Why it's hard to celebrate Man City's dominance They defined the Premier League in the previous decade and are on their way to defining it in this one. It's City's third straight Premier League title, their fifth in sixth years and their seventh in the past 12, starting with the "Aguero moment" at 93:20. Arsenal's 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday mathematically gave the title to City, turning Sunday's match against Chelsea - a 1-0 win in which Pep Guardiola essentially played his B-team - into a formality and the postmatch into a celebration, complete with festive and spontaneous pitch invasion. It turned out to be rather anticlimactic, like one of those Netflix crime dramas that are churned out way too fast where you know exactly what's going to happen well before the final few episodes. It's Monday, and Gab Marcotti reacts to the biggest moments in the world of football.Ību Dhabi enabled Man City to compete with Europe's elite, but it's Guardiola, the players and the club that made them great Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga & more (U.S.) Elsewhere, there were talking points for Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool, Inter Milan and more. RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund's huge win at Augsburg have put BVB two points clear heading into the final weekend. Things are less clear-cut in the Bundesliga, as Bayern Munich's defeat vs. There was also the ugliness at Valencia, where Real Madrid lost and star forward Vinicius was subjected to more racial abuse. The weekend in European soccer was full of title celebrations in some leagues and champagne kept on ice in others, so where do we begin? Arsenal's defeat meant Manchester City were crowned champions before beating Chelsea on Sunday, while Barcelona got to enjoy their LaLiga title despite losing to Real Sociedad. Man City's accomplishments through the work of Guardiola, the players and the club are worth celebrating even while off-field issues work through the proper channels. Michael Regan/Getty Images
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