On the pitch Manchester City are beginning to gel. Early season indications would suggest that their preparations for the new campaign are already ahead of their rivals Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, to be Manchester United’s earliest concern for success. Despite the Carlos Tevez saga, the arrival of Sergio Aguero has only impressed, leaving City fans, and neutrals drooling in anticipation for the season ahead.
Quick success does cost. All clubs understand this, yet Manchester City may soon have some issues to deal with when justifying the specifics of their financial dealings. Recently Manchester City signed a 10 year sponsorship deal with Etihad Airways, worth a reported £400 million. This deal will cover both shirt sponsorship and stadium naming rights for this period.
Most clubs would envy such a deal, yet this has caused some suspicion in the halls of UEFA, who are now adhering to FIFA’s new financial fair play policy. The policy basically commands that over a three year period, clubs participating in European competition must balance their football related expenditure. This season is the first which counts toward this assessment, which over the next years allows for decreasing levels of losses which clubs must stay below, falling to £8.8 million by 2018. For clubs that fail to adhere the sanction is a ban from European competition.
The close Abu Dhabi links between Manchester City and Etihad Airways are the reasons for this suspicion, which has been formalised by comments from Jean Luc Dehaene, the Chairman of the UEFA’s club financial control panel, who admitted he had ‘questions’ to ask Manchester City. The clubs financial dealings may all be in order, with clubs jealous of Manchester City’s resources, making a fuss in a bid to unsettle the title challengers. However the simple fact that Manchester City’s owner, Sheikh Mansour, is half brother to Abu Dhabi’s state ruler Sheikh Kalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, continues the controversy. Etihad Airways are state owned…
The links between Etihad and Manchester City go beyond just the shirts and the stadium. The Etihad Campus is in development around the ground, and upon completion will include an expanded academy, a sports science centre, training ground, a 7,000 seat stadium for youth and reserve matches and more general office and retail space. Investment of this ilk does not infringe on FIFA’s financial fair play policy, yet should any revenue and profit derive from these areas for Manchester City Football Club, the policy will be breached.
When the policy was announced in March it was thought that Chelsea too would have similar problems, and although they may yet have some issues, their spending has calmed down from what it was when they were in Manchester City’s position of a number of years ago; spending big for quick silverware.
To improve competitiveness and also to re-focus clubs interest on honing youth and home grown talent, FIFA has introduced this legislation to calm the sport down financially. Football undoubtedly is becoming excessive and materialistic, if not already there, and Manchester City must quickly learn their financial limitations.
ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.
Click here to have a look out our predictions for the 2011/2012 Premier League Season!
Or have a look at the ten strikers that we think will lead the race for the Golden Boot next season
To suggest that Manchester City, one of the most well-run clubs in the world, should be worried is preposterous.
They have some of the biggest financial experts at the helm working behind the scenes to make sure everything works out.
So UEFA are going to turn away a owner that is ploughing equity into a debt ridden game and then writing off the debt off that said club ???? I think not !!! UEFA likes a pay day nearly as much as FIFA… however they will want to shutout leveraged buyouts which frankly are disgrace… the answer is simple allow an investor to pump in as much money as they like whilst ensuring liabilities such contracts are covered via a trust fund so if they take their toys and run the club security is ensured
Adam read a nd learn http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2011/07/manchester-citys-incredible-deal-know.html?m=1
Oh and Adam Chelsea spent £50m on one player not
That long ago and haven’t finished yet!
Cressy lad. Bit of baloney coming out of your anal pit there.
“a source of great worry” .. but to whom ?
Adam Cresswell ? , ManU’re ? The Glasers ?
I think we should be told.
Meanwhile, United is planning to bring in 1 Billion pounds by selling shares in Singapore. And of course since any club is capable of doing the same, this is perfectly fair.
I’d love to know who’ll be underwriting this proposed public offering ( and what they will charge for the honour of buying up the unwanted shares ! )
FFS not another bloody article swiping at City without knowing all the facts.
Read this –
http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-manchester-city-could-break-even.html
In all the months since the Etihad deal, only one Fifa official has bitten when serially questioned by reporters, which now gives the mischief makers and jealous rivals of City something to work on.
Platini and Blatter have said FUCK ALL on the sponsorship deal because they know it’s watertight and conforms with the FFP regs, and let’s not forget these rules were specifically put in place to stop Manchester City developing into a world superpower in football, not to mention these two hate English football with a passion.
City have consulted with Fifa all the way through this sponsorship deal, so it’s a bit late to say that City have broken any rules – they patently haven’t, no matter how many times you say the Sheikh is related to Etihad etc..etc..
You have missed the many other sponsorship deals and business partnerships City are engaged in, and are building upon every week, to supplement income. Go to the City official website to see who they are, this week Mansion the Asian online betting group have joined the likes of Jaguar, Ea sports, Disney etc. in realising the business potential that is MCFC.
How much is Sergio “Kun” Aguero going to be worth in terms of sponsorships and world coverage over the coming five years of his contract? The guy is seriously classy.
Just because you haven’t done your research and you don’t understand a situation, doesn’t give you the right to write poor articles off the cuff like this one.
As an aside, the Fifa FFP rules have effectively clanged shut the door to smaller clubs getting to the top of European football, just as City squeezed in at the last minute, therefore cementing City’s position above Spuds, Liverpool, Everton, Villa et al – but don’t hate City, make your views known to Platini, and hope to God he listens and scraps these unfair, monopolistic, closed shop regulations before football really becomes monotonous.
City have an unrivalled business team growing the “brand”, alongside the infrastructure and squad, and combined make a formidable threat to the top four clubs in Europe – do some research and you cannot fail to be impressed.
Nail. Head. Bang. On.
Fifa fair play is a disgrace. It is designed to keep the big clubs at the top and the smaller clubs will now FOREVER be small feeder clubs for the bigger ones. If you can only buy players that your books say you can afford then you can NEVER make inward investment into the club and it will NEVER grow. Every business loses money for the 1st few years. I can understand protecting clubs from over stretching their finances and thus going under. But in Man Citys case the owner has DONATED his money, he has cleared Man Citys debt and promised to absorb future debt, leaving the club and district in a far more healthy position then before he took over. Supposing I was a life long Doncaster Rovers supporter and I became a billionaire, can I not GIVE doncaster a few million, no strings attached to help build the club. WHY NOT? How the Fxxx is it fair play not to be able to inject money that does not place a burden on that club. Its bullshit.
Hear hear!