Manchester City deal to hide player costs from UEFA revealed

According to club documents cited by a German magazine, Der Spiegel, Manchester City created a shell company for a commercial deal to disguise tens of millions of dollars in income from UEFA investigators. 

Der Spiegel cites internal Man City correspondence to expose the team’s holding company, state-backed Abu Dhabi United Group, paid the shell firm a huge some of money to “buy” player image rights from the club. 

In an effort to hide expenses and evading UEFA monitoring of spending on players, the German magazine claimed that Man City officials detailed a long-term search for “creative solutions”.

In 2014, Man City risked Champions League expulsion if a UEFA club finance panel had found out they severely breached “Financial Fair Play” rules, which was designed to curb overspending on player costs. Critics have it that FFP only protects storied clubs from ambitious rivals with wealthy and new owners.

Der Spiegel is in the frontline of the Europe-wide publication of the “Football Leaks” documents.

Recently, European media outlets have highlighted plans shaped by Real Madrid for a breakaway European Super League starting off in 2021, and how Gianni Infantino, the FIFA President has intervened in its independent ethics committee’s work.

Last week Friday, Der Spiegel also claimed that Man City threatened to destroy UEFA with legal action before reaching a 2014 settlement to forfeit $22.8 million in prize money.

However, the authenticity of the documents has not been disputed by Man City and said an “attempt to damage the club’s reputation is organized and clear.”

Guardiola, who was speaking at the press conference ahead of City’s Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday - When asked about the leaks by Der Spiegel said: “Of course I have trust in what the club have done. 

Of course we intend to follow the rules. FIFA, UEFA and the Premier League, they do what they need to do. I’m a coach, I focused on the pitch, the locker room. Trust me, I’m completely saying the truth, I have no knowledge of what happened. 

“I support the club, I’m part of the club.” “We want to do what we have to do in terms of the rules.” 

Since Man City was bought by Abu Dhabi Group in 2008, a team who has stayed long in the shadows of more glamorous Manchester United has overtaken its rival on the pitch.

To win a first Premier League title in 2012, City achieved this spending more than 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion).

This sudden rise coincided with UEFA creating FFP rules after consultation with the European Club Association in a bid to reduce spending within a club’s ability to generate revenue.

Man City documents in which officials wrote was cited by Der Spiegel: “Without important additional revenues ... UEFA FFP compliance WILL NOT be achieved.”

Ferran Soriano, the City CEO complained in a memo ECA members pushing for the UEFA rules, which most believed could curb the rise of Man City and Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain.

“We will have to fight this,” said Soriano, according to the magazine, “and do it in such a manner that is invisible, if not we will be labelled as the world enemies of football.”

Apparently, Man City wanted to shield certain costs away from the club and a shell company called Fordham Sports Management was set up with two British investors. 

It was supposedly created as a means to disguise payments to players for the right to make use of their image in marketing campaigns.

The German magazine said it helped turn almost $34 million into revenue in place of a cost, for the intention of UEFA’s investigation of club accounts.