🧵 THREAD: Manchester City, the charges, the evidence, & how justice was delayed. Manchester City weren’t charged because rivals complained or because they 'spent big'. They were charged because evidence shows a decade-long system designed to hide owner funding, inflate revenue & deceive & obstruct investigations. The Premier League’s case didn’t appear overnight. It began in late 2018, triggered by Football Leaks documents - internal emails, invoices, contracts - that contradicted what City had been telling UEFA & the Premier League for years. Those emails are the backbone of everything that followed. At the centre of the case is a simple allegation: Manchester City repeatedly disguised owner funding as commercial revenue. FFP rules require sponsorship income to be real, independent, and market value. What the emails suggest is that City’s biggest 'sponsors' weren’t paying what City claimed - Abu Dhabi was. Take Etihad as an example. Leaked emails show City executives discussing Etihad paying only a fraction of headline sponsorship deals, with the shortfall quietly topped up by Abu Dhabi government-linked entities. One email explicitly references ensuring funds 'come through the correct channels' so they are not detected as separate sources of funding. That is the definition of disguised equity. This wasn’t a one-off. Emails show Etihad deals where shirt sponsorship, stadium, training kit & campus naming rights were all inflated wildly out of line with the market at the time - later confirmed in the actual contracts, not just drafts. The numbers in the leaks weren’t hypothetical. They were real. UEFA auditors suspected this as early as 2013–14. They found £47m of 'intellectual property' sales boosting income, a £5m 'win bonus' paid for an FA Cup final City lost & sponsorships from Aabar and Etisalat above market value. City were fined & restricted - but crucially, UEFA never saw the full records. Why? Because City refused to provide them. This becomes a pattern. When UEFA charged City again in 2020, they imposed a two-year Champions League ban. City appealed to CAS & had it overturned. City fans shout 'INNOCENT', shared out of context screenshots. They're wrong. CAS did not rule that City were innocent. CAS ruled that UEFA could not meet the burden of proof - largely because City did not co-operate. City were fined €10m specifically for obstructing the investigation. Even City's own expert witness was denied access to key information that could have disproved disguised funding. 'No evidence' doesn’t mean nothing happened. It means the evidence was withheld. CAS explicitly stated that disguised equity funding could not be excluded - only that neither side could conclusively prove their case. That vagueness was entirely engineered. After CAS, new emails emerged suggesting Simon Pearce, a senior City executive & Sheikh Mansour adviser, had given misleading testimony under oath. City declined to comment. Again. While all this was happening, the Premier League had already been investigating City for years. City’s response? Delay. Delay. Delay. Obstruct. Litigate. Court filings later revealed City challenged the legality of the investigation itself, filed repeated procedural applications, refused to hand over documents, forced arbitration, then challenged arbitration & tried to keep the entire process secret. A High Court judge called it out in 2021. “It is surprising, and a matter of legitimate public concern, that so little progress has been made.” That’s legal spiel for stonewalling. This obstruction accounts for 35 of the 115 charges alone & that’s before we get to the secret payments. City declared Roberto Mancini's salary as £1.45m per year. On the same day he signed with City, he also signed a “consultancy” deal with Al Jazira - a club owned by the same man who owns City - worth £1.75m per year. That deal was explicitly marked confidential. Emails show City executives arranging the payments. Same signatures. Same people. Same day. The allegation is obvious: City paid Mancini off the books. Leaked documents allege undeclared payments for Yaya Touré, including via third parties. These aren’t rumours. They’re contracts, emails, invoices. This is why there are 14 charges relating to manager and player remuneration. Then there’s image rights. City told UEFA they sold player image rights for a £24.5m lump sum to comply with FFP. Later, they quietly resumed earning millions from image rights again. The buyer? A company whose directors included City’s own senior legal officer. Independent journalists couldn’t even establish its genuine commercial purpose. All of this feeds into the core allegation across 54 charges: City failed to provide accurate financial information in good faith. Not once. Not twice. But repeatedly, over nearly a decade. Now add politics. UK government departments discussed City’s charges with the British embassy in Abu Dhabi. Those communications are sealed - because releasing them could 'damage relations with the UAE'. City insist they are not state-backed. Then why is the state involved? Yet still, the delays continue. A 12-week closed-door hearing. Half a million documents. Years of silence. City remain 'innocent' - not because the evidence disappeared, but because the verdict hasn’t landed. This is why the case matters. If City walk away with a fine, it tells every club to cheat cleverly, obstruct endlessly, spend on lawyers, not compliance.. & the rules collapse. This isn’t about jealousy. It isn’t about success. It’s about whether financial regulation in English football is real - or optional for the richest club in the league. The evidence exists. The emails exist. The delays are documented. Now only one question remains, do the rules apply to City or not?

Japan are a sneaky good side who could have a great World Cup, while the Dutch are hoping they can shed their underachievers tag & go deep. Sponsored by Rainbet. 18 only. #ad “What’s gambling really costing you?” Free, confidential help: gamblinghelponline.org.au | 1800 858 858

The New York Knicks are NBA Champions for the first time since 1973. Jalen Brunson a warrior & stone cold killer. 45 points on 15-27 shooting, 13-15 FT in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. OG Anunoby the likely Finals MVP. Karl Anthony Towns huge. What an incredible run to the title.

Soccer fans, famously known for not knowing how to celebrate victories

Diogo Dalot & Noussair Mazraoui both cop a bit of criticism at times, but what both give Manchester United is reliable floor raising squad players which every club needs & who are top professionals who you can count. Players that coaches love, even if fans don’t all the time.

Ayyoub Bouaddi. Lamine Camara. Lee Kang-in. Mamadou Sangare. Ligue 1 midfielder shopping.

I wonder if people are noticing what Kobbie Mainoo was able to do for Casemiro, because Bruno Guimarães has so far been unable to do the same thing.

I will be devastated if Ayyoub Bouaddi goes to another Premier League club. Morocco did very well getting him to get him to choose to represent them less than a month before the World Cup even begun. He is a special young player. Proper talent. A very impressive Morocco start.

Noussair Mazraoui shaved his head & went to a different level for this World Cup. What is this sorcery!? I want to see this at Old Trafford, man.

I do my best to respond to everybody who contacts me. But I'm inundated with private messages about Mateus Fernandes and Manchester United. To clarify, things are progressing as previously stated. I simply choose not to post the same thing in 10 different ways for traction. 👌🏻

No Cunha or Ederson in the starting lineup for Brazil is disappointing, but it's Mazraoui vs Casemiro from the first minute. Another Case goal tonight then, perhaps? Sponsored by Rainbet | 18 only | #ad “You win some. You lose more.” gamblinghelponline.org.au | 1800 858 858

Next time you want to criticise a 48 team World Cup, look at what that point means to Qatar. That moment right there, you cannot compete with that level of pride, excitement & joy.

Mahmoud Abunada take a bow, he won that point for his country. A spectacular performance in goal for Qatar has earned them a draw after they score a late equaliser. Shambolic for Switzerland who should be winning this group & should’ve been a few goals up here & paid the price.

Ruben Amorim taking a new job is potentially good news for Manchester United financially. Most contracts have mitigation clauses & in standard practice, lower the compensation MUFC pays Amorim. Taking that role would almost certainly trigger a reduction in the club’s remaining obligations to him. Reports indicated an initial £10m payout, with last quarter's financial filings showing a total of around £16.7m for Amorim & his team. So in short, I hope Amorim takes the gig at AC Milan.

🫁 Some breathing room for United's rebuild United’s latest refinancing switches their funding source to a lower cost form of debt. Imo, United will likely use the cash to minimise credit facility drawdown, that will likely limit annual interest cost increases to £5-7mn a year. The upside and downside risks to the financial plan have not changed, but as previously stated more cash means more flexibility on how they negotiate transfers. The long march to being financially self-funded continues, and is critical for any new stadium developments. bit.ly/4e6huXQ

Complaints about the World Cup timing of games is a little tone deaf, I can't lie. Welcome to what the rest of the world experiences to follow European football. It is a different kind of time commitment when you are in North America, South America, Asia & Australia.

West Ham don't have near the leverage on the Mateus Fernandes deal as people think, Manchester United & Fernandes do & they know it. They've tried media briefing on Arsenal, PSG & Real Madrid as scare tactics were tried & they didn’t work. It'll help get the deal on their terms.

These are horrible, horrible people creating these fake quotes. It’s out of control now.

Manchester United are prioritising multifunctional CMs who can do a bit of everything. The Michael Carrick influence on recruitment is becoming quite clear. By the end of the window the club will have one of the most exciting young cores in the world. Built for now & the future.

Absolutely crazy that Arsenal were unashamedly playing this guy every week