In Manchester, people say City scandal is ‘shame for football’

MANCHESTER – On the streets of Manchester, people voiced shock and dismay at the scale of financial wrongdoing by Manchester City, with some calling for the football club to be relegated from the English Premier League.

“It’s a shame for football. Football is such a great sport and we can’t have stories like that,” said Karem Fagega, a 21-year-old student in the north-west city, shaking his head in disbelief at the downfall of “such a good team”.

An independent commission found the Abu Dhabi-backed club arranged “sham” contracts with a number of commercial partners to artificially inflate its revenues and reduce costs by more than £900 million (S$1.53 billion) between 2009 and 2018.

In that time, City won the Premier League title three times and also lifted one FA Cup and three League Cups.

“They do have the money to do everything right, but they decided to do everything wrong. So I was kind of shocked when I learnt about it,” said Sabrina Lodi, a 33-year-old account manager, after the news broke on Sept 29.

She said, however, that in her view, City “are not the only ones that do it from around the world,” but were “just the ones that got caught”.

For Connor Emery, a 25-year-old retail worker who supports City’s Premier League rivals Liverpool, the “damning” verdict came as a surprise.

“I can’t believe it, to be fair. I never thought the club would get in trouble for anything”, he said, admitting he had expected the scandal to be “brushed under the carpet”.

Asked about possible consequences for the club, some said they wanted relegation but expected the club to avoid this.

British sports minister Lisa Nandy warned “the ultimate sanction is very serious indeed” and a club “can be expelled from the Premier League”.

“I personally think it should be a relegation,” said Corey, an 18-year-old student who is a fan of Manchester’s other club, Manchester United, but the outcome “depends on what the Premier League have in place”.

“I would want a relegation, probably a points deduction to get them relegated,” said Emery.

But he was sceptical this would happen, adding with a shrug: “It’s probably going to be a fine, let’s face it”.

In initial reactions from those close to the club, former City defender Micah Richards told The Rest is Football podcast he was “absolutely devastated” by the revelations about the club where he started playing aged 14.

“I feel saddened. I feel angry. I feel a little bit confused,” he added, citing a lack of information and conflicting accounts, after the club’s CEO Ferran Soriano slammed the verdict as a “Premier League conspiracy theory” and insisted the club would “be vindicated”.

Former United captain Roy Keane said, if he were a City player, he would throw away all the medals.

“They knew it would hurt a lot of people, but they’ve still done it, and, if I was a player, I’d be 100 per cent sticking those medals in the bin,” he told ITV television. AFP