{"id":23136,"date":"2024-01-31T21:43:04","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T18:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/23136\/why-the-secrecy-around-man\/"},"modified":"2024-01-31T21:43:15","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T18:43:15","slug":"why-the-secrecy-around-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/?p=23136","title":{"rendered":"Why the secrecy around Man City&#8217;s FFP case is so damaging"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Why the secrecy around Man City&#8217;s FFP case is so damaging\u060c<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"inline inline-photo full\">\n<figure><picture><source data- media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data- media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img class=\" lazyload lazyload\" data-image-container=\".inline-photo\" height=\"320\" width=\"570\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"photoCaption\">Manchester City will eventually sit with the Premier League to respond to the accusations against them, but the unnecessary secrecy around things such as the timing of these hearings creates a toxic vacuum. <cite>Martin Rickett\/PA Images via Getty Images<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>On January 16, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters appeared before a British parliamentary committee and addressed arguably the biggest disciplinary case involving the most successful club in recent English <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/football\/\"   title=\"football\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">football<\/a> history: the 115 charges brought against Manchester City which, if proven, could result in the club being stripped of its titles, relegated, fined, prosecuted, tarred, feathered and forced to sit in a corner until the kingdom come.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA date has been set for this procedure [against Manchester City] but unfortunately I can&#39;t tell you when that will happen, but it&#39;s progressing,&#8221; Masters said. (Fast forward to 1:26 to see this segment.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8211; Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga and more (US)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Now, it&#39;s pretty obvious that the Overton Window on what we&#39;ll tolerate from those who govern us (or, in this case, the things we love, like football) has changed, but think about it once minute.  Manchester City are facing a decision by a three-person independent panel that could have seismic repercussions for English football and the public \u2013 who, let&#39;s not forget, pay for the whole shebang by buying tickets, merchandise, TV subscriptions, et cetera \u2013 &#8211; doesn&#39;t even have the right to know when the damn thing will happen?<\/p>\n<p>And it&#39;s not just that: we also don&#39;t know who will be on the panel and judge City&#39;s case (although we do know that this guy, like a certain legal Nick Fury, can put it together and can put there, if he wishes).  he therefore chooses).  We will find out <em>After<\/em> the audience.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline editorial float-r\" data-behavior=\"article_related\">\n<h2 class=\"editorial-title\">Editor&#39;s Choice<\/h2>\n<p>2 Related<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Oh, and while we&#39;re at it, consider that the charges cover alleged rule violations dating back to 2009 &#8211; before anyone in City&#39;s current squad, other than third-choice goalkeeper Scott Carson, even turned professional &#8211; and That before they were brought in 11 months ago, the Premier League spent four years investigating the matter.<\/p>\n<p>And, incidentally, after announcing in March 2019 (four months after the investigation actually began) that City were under investigation, the Premier League (and City) went years without telling anyone what was happening, or even if the investigation had been abandoned.  (We only found out in the summer of 2021 that it hadn&#39;t been abandoned because Her Majesty&#39;s Court of Appeal decided it was OK to let us know.<\/p>\n<p>Doesn\u2019t that seem absurd to you?  Shouldn&#39;t justice be as swift as, you know, fair?<\/p>\n<p>To be clear, I&#39;m not blaming Masters here.  In fact, given how clearly he made it clear that he was under a silence order \u2013 moments before confirming that a date had been set, he clearly stated, regarding the accusations against City, that he \u201ccouldn\u2019t talk about it\u201d. [them] at all&#8221; &#8212; I&#39;m grateful he even voluntarily announced that a date had been set. After all, he was neither under oath nor, from the footage, under duress in the room.<\/p>\n<div data-behavior=\"video_scroll\" class=\"contentItem__content contentItem__content--media-card contentItem__content--fullWidth contentItem__content--inline\">\n<figure data-video=\"watch,640,360,39428323\" data-cerebro-id=\"65ba4967be6ab32a2ba68df8\" data-title=\"Guardiola on future: 'I feel good at Man City'\" class=\"media-wrapper_image video\" data-source=\"espn\"><picture class=\"media-wrapper_image\"><source data- media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data- media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img class=\" lazyload lazyload\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><span class=\"video-play-button\" data-id=\"39428323\">play<\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\">\n<p>1:11<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"contentItem__contentWrapper\">\n<p>Guardiola on the future: &#39;I feel good at <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/man\/\"   title=\"Man\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">Man<\/a> City&#39;<\/p>\n<p class=\"contentItem__subhead\">Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says he still feels good at Manchester City and has time to decide on his future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>No, Masters is a victim here because the lawyers and the legislation have created a situation in which no one involved \u2013 neither in the Premier League nor at Manchester City \u2013 can say a word about the case, when it might be heard or even by who.  .  All this for what ?  For fear of then finding another lawyer who could convince a judge that by speaking out he might somehow harm the case, and we found ourselves in the equivalent of a commission independent of a mistrial.  Or, even worse, real judges and courts are (again) involved.<\/p>\n<p>I&#39;m sure some lawyer on one side has concocted a reason why this all has to be so deep underground.  This is an accounting and reporting dispute involving a league that will soon be subject to an independent regulator and a club that also happens to be a member of that league (and subject to its rules).  Both exist as entertainment companies and social entities thanks to the passion (and money) of tens of millions of fans.<\/p>\n<p>Why this closed-door hearing, as if it were some sort of extraordinary interrogation?  Why the mystery about the date \u2013 hell, Masters spoke last <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/week\/\"   title=\"week\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">week<\/a>, which means for all we know they already had the hearing?  Why the anonymity of the jury: do they seriously think that someone is going to tamper with them like in a 1970s mafia movie?<\/p>\n<p>We don&#39;t know, because no one can talk about it.  All you get is an endless regurgitation of facts from the Football Leaks investigation and the UEFA investigation &#8211; some of which apply to this case, some of which do not, some of which will be judged by the same legal standards, some of which will not.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline float-r inline-track\">\n<h2 class=\"img-title\">LIVE ON ESPN+ (SELECTED GAMES)<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Beautiful game lives here.  Stream the best leagues, tournaments and teams.<br \/><b>Sign up for ESPN+<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>WEDNESDAY JAN.  31 (all times ET)<\/b><br \/>\u2022 Barcelona against Osasuna (1:00 p.m.)<br \/>\u2022 Atletico Madrid against Rayo (3:00 p.m.)<\/p>\n<p><b>THURSDAY FEBRUARY 1 (all times ET)<\/b><br \/>\u2022 Getafe vs Real Madrid (3:00 p.m.)<\/p>\n<p><b>FRIDAY FEBRUARY 2 (all times ET)<\/b><br \/>\u2022 Heidenheim against Dortmund (2:30 p.m.)<br \/>\u2022 Athletic Club against Mallorca (3:00 p.m.)<\/p>\n<p><b>SATURDAY FEBRUARY 3 (all times ET)<\/b><br \/>\u2022 FC Bayern M\u00fcnchen against Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach (9:20 a.m.)<br \/>\u2022 SV Darmstadt 98 against Bayer 04 Leverkusen (9:20 a.m.)<br \/>\u2022 Alav\u00e9s against FC Barcelona (12:50 p.m.)<br \/>\u2022 Ajax against PSV (1:55 p.m.)<br \/>\u2022 Girona against Real Sociedad (2:50 p.m.)<\/p>\n<p><b>SUNDAY FEB.  4 (all times ET)<\/b><br \/>\u2022 RB Leipzig against 1. FC Union Berlin (11:20 a.m.)<br \/>\u2022 Real Madrid against Atl\u00e9tico de Madrid (2:50 p.m.)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Pep Guardiola, City&#39;s most successful manager, at least had the luxury of asking his employers directly.  \u201cWhen they are accused of something, I ask them: &#39;Tell me about this.&#39;  They explain and I believe them,\u201d he said in May 2022.<\/p>\n<p>What if they lie to you, Pep?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you lie to me, the next day I won\u2019t be here,\u201d he said.  \u201cI\u2019m going out and I\u2019m not going to be your friend anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All of this foments a lack of trust in our institutions and fuels endless extreme conspiracy theories.  For some, on the one hand, City are cheaters, their success is tainted and the Premier League is weak and limp for letting them get away with it for so long.  For those on the other end of the line, City are the victims of a witch hunt by England&#39;s traditional clubs &#8211; you know, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/united\/\"   title=\"United\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">United<\/a> &#8211; who are forcing their Premier League puppets to present false accusations against them.  .<\/p>\n<p>Most reasonable people fall somewhere in between because we would like to make up our own minds, like Pep.  We would like the rules explained to us in a way we understand and we would like to know the evidence that City broke them, as well as City&#39;s rebuttal.  It&#39;s not us who will decide, okay, because we are not trained in the so-called mystical subtleties of law, but it would be nice to know what this case is about, how it will be judged, when, where and By Who.<\/p>\n<p>But no.  We won&#39;t have that luxury.  And frankly, it will make it even harder to accept whatever verdict it may be.  If and when it comes out, of course.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why the secrecy around Man City&#8217;s FFP case is so damaging\u060c Manchester City will eventually sit with the Premier League to respond to the accusations against them, but the unnecessary secrecy around things such as the timing of these hearings creates a toxic vacuum. Martin Rickett\/PA Images via Getty Images On January 16, Premier League [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[994,3676,10043,9785,32,10042],"class_list":["post-23136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","tag-case","tag-citys","tag-damaging","tag-ffp","tag-man","tag-secrecy"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23136"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23138,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23136\/revisions\/23138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}