Newcomers to English football know that Manchester City has been one of the best teams in Europe over the last decade. What they may not know is that prior to the team’s September 2008 purchase by Sheikh Mansour, Manchester City was the second-best team in Manchester and a team that bounced up and down between English divisions.
The infusion of money from Mansour, who is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, led Manchester City out of the doldrums to the heights of European soccer. The club was now able to compete with the top sides in Europe. This included a new stadium, new training ground and the ability to recruit top players with large salaries.
Since then the side have won: One FA Cup, three League Cups and three Premier League titles. As of 2015 the City Football Group was valued at $3 billion.
The fact is that Manchester City has been transformed from also rans to domination because the club has spent a ton of money to achieve this success. It’s frustrating for teams that do not have an oil baron sugar daddy, but to be fair, a number of big clubs throughout the world accumulate success by spending more than the competition.
It took a while, but this week Manchester City’s actions have come back to haunt them. The independent Adjudicatory Chamber of UEFA's Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) handed down a two season ban from UEFA competitions and fined the organization with a $32.5 million fine. This was because the club were found to have committed "serious breaches" of Financial Fair Play (FFP) while submitting inaccurate information to UEFA between 2012 and 2016. They were also found to have "failed to cooperate" with the investigation.
Manchester City are appealing this ruling and the ban may end up being reduced. However, it’s a warning to other clubs. If the ban is upheld, City will lose out on millions of dollars that come from competing in Europe’s top competition. It will also hurt City’s ability to attract top talent and the ability to spend freely.
As a fan of the game, I’m glad to see that soccer’s governing bodies are making clubs be held accountable for their actions. It’s never going to stop the richer clubs from outspending their competition, but hopefully it will lead to a bit of a more level playing field.
What are your thoughts on the Manchester City ban?