City's FFP scenario

I haven't wrote about this since the news broke last Friday, and to be honest I don't really know how I feel about it.

City came out this week and categorically denied the findings of UEFA and denied any wrong doing. I don't know whether I believe this. But the club have laid their stall out, and so even if the appeal results in a reduction in the ban of two years from the Champions League, I doubt that City would accept this, as doing so they would be effectively admitting guilt.

Now reports are coming out that City are not going to let anything lie, and this includes the Liverpool "hacking" story of City's scouting database. I think these reports are probably just journalists putting two and two together and coming up with five. That situation was effectively settled, but it is interesting that the reports into this whole sorry situation have deviated from City being under attack to City going on the offensive. Personally I think that's just journalistic licence and the media effectively creating click-bait articles.

I think City's intent in this isn't just to clear their own name, but I think the club is intent on bringing down UEFA, or at least a fraction of UEFA that they feel is corrupt. And the ramifications of this could be huge.

On one hand it could see FFP dissolved. On the other hand, and I genuinely think this is a possibility, it could result in City being dissolved as a club.

City's owners are sportswashing. There is no doubt about that. It's a reason why they chose a Premier League club in the first place. To enhance their own reputation and elevate their already significant wealth through exposure within Europe through it's most popular sport. If the appeal all goes against City, then in terms of sportwashing, their reputation would take an enormous hit, and the value of the club they own - an asset that they own - would plummet. If that happens then I can see City's owner's walking away. Dissolving the club, and also walking away from the huge investment they have made into Manchester. Take the hit and set up elsewhere. This would have a huge detrimental affect on Manchester and the regeneration that has gone on in various areas over the past 10 years. Most notably areas such as Bradford and New Islington.

Given their significant wealth and influence however, while they may walk away from City, I doubt they will walk away from football, and another possible outcome is for them to challenge UEFA financially by setting up an a football organisation to rival UEFA and try to tempt the world's biggest clubs to walk away from UEFA themselves. See how loyal the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, United, Bayern, etc etc, are to UEFA by tempting them with untold riches to join another organisation instead.

This all sounds rather dramatic, but I genuinely do believe that the ramifications of what has happened could be absolutely huge for football going forward.