Fresh evidence has emerged that appears to show that Manchester City did, in fact, break Financial Fair Play regulations.
The Premier League champions have been accused of breaching FFP rules in the past, but have so far escaped punishment due to a lack of sufficient evidence.
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However, the Daily Mail now report on leaked emails showing that City brought in £12million from sponsors Etihad, even though they only had a written invoice for £4m.
The Mail’s report adds: City have allegedly benefited from abnormally high sponsorship details from entities based in the UAE, in deals that appear to have contravened FFP rules. If money was being funnelled into City to artificially inflate their income for years, that would be a problem.
It will be interesting to see if City agree to further investigations from the Premier League, as they could face a serious punishment if they are found guilty.
Pep Guardiola’s side have been a joy to watch on the pitch in recent years, but there’s no doubt that some questions remain over how they’re doing their business off it.
City have already landed themselves in trouble with UEFA in the past, and were handed a two-year Champions League ban for disguised funding.
This, however, was later lifted on appeal, so it’s by no means certain that they’ll definitely face a punishment for this latest alleged breach either.