Man City’s ‘Secret Settlement Talks’ Collapse for Comical Reason
Manchester City are reported to have held talks over a financial settlement with the Premier League prior to the revelation of their guilty verdict, only to have seen negotiations collapse over their continued proclamations of innocence.
City have appealed the ruling of an independent panel that found them guilty of the vast majority of the 115 financial charges made against them by the Premier League. Punishments could range from fines and point deductions to being stripped of trophies and even expelled from the division.
Prior to the guilty verdict, Bloomberg state City held talks with the Premier League over what would have been a sizeable financial settlement to bring the entire saga to an end.
The conversations are believed to have collapsed fairly quickly for one simple reason: City refused to admit defeat.
Soon after walking away from the negotiating table, the Premier League confirmed City had been found guilty of inflating their finances to the tune of £900 million ($1.2 billion) between 2009 and 2018. Any punishment is expected to be far greater than a simple fine.
Why Would Man City Walk Away From Financial Settlement?
Since the charges were first brought against City nearly four years ago, the club have never shied away from their public confidence that everything would soon be forgotten.
City have spent years and years insisting they have “irrefutable evidence” to prove their innocence but, when presented with those documents, the panel ruling over the case picked them apart and ultimately found City guilty of major rule breaches.
Even that has not changed City’s stance. The club remain adamant of their innocence and that confidence was shared by manager Enzo Maresca, who told his first press conference since the verdict was handed out that it was a case of “when,” rather than if, the club win their appeal.
If City can prove their innocence, there would obviously be no sanctions. The club appear to be so confident in their ability to change the narrative that the chance to agree to a settlement with the Premier League was not tempting enough.
It is a bold strategy, to say the least. If punishments are handed out, they are expected to be far more severe than a fine. The Premier League has the right to serve whatever punishment it sees fit and the general consensus is that City could be facing an enormous points deduction, potentially serious enough to relegate them from the division.
That would, clearly, be far worse than any fine, but it speaks to the level of City’s confidence that they refused to budge when presented with the chance to soften the blow.
