Potential punishments for Manchester City, that is the only story dominating the media and focus of football fans.
If/when the appeals fail, what will happen?
What punishment(s) would be fitting if indeed Man City are in the end determined to be guilty of cheating?
One huge thing is ignored though, all but forgotten.
What about when Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham were caught in the process of the biggest attempt at cheating that the Premier League has ever seen?
When talking about Man City potentially getting thrown out of the Premier League, even possibly thrown into non-league if the EFL don’t allow them into the the next three tiers, it is worth remembering the following.
When Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham were caught red-handed in the process of the biggest attempt at cheating that the Premier League has ever seen, they were ‘punished’ with less than the cost of a week’s wages.
Quite incredible.
The ‘Premier League Big Six’ were caught out in an attempt to steal the game, an attempt to ruin English football and cheat all of the other clubs.
It was only because there was a huge public backlash that prevented Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham getting away with it.
It is only five years ago and yet everybody has seemingly chose to forget about this, certainly the media and the football authorities.
Back in 2021 we saw Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham as pivotal in the attempt to set up a European Super League. Their intention to grab all of the riches for themselves, automatically qualify every year for the big European competition and basically ruin football with the sole reason of enriching themselves.
If you had any doubts about fairness in the Premier League and how various clubs are treated, who has the power to decide what happens…
Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham ‘reached an agreement with the Premier League’ that their punishment for trying to cheat and steal football would be a fine of just over £20m.
To put it into perspective, the £3.5m each of the six Premier League clubs had to pay was, even at that time, the equivalent of LESS than any of the half dozen’s weekly wage bill!
That was the point when the rule book should have been thrown at Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham. To me, what they had done was far worse than anything that had gone before, or indeed since. I think their collective attempt to cheat and ruin football for everybody else is far far worse than what Man City are claimed to have done now.
My opinion is that all six of them should have been relegated from the Premier League and given a five or ten year ban on qualifying for any European competition. Plus massive fines and transfer embargoes.
This was a huge missed moment when the rest of the Premier League clubs and indeed the rest of English football failed to hold Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham to account, which we are all now paying for.
The financial rules are all set up to benefit them and protect their dominant positions when it comes to money and long-term competition. Even if Manchester City are now brought to their knees due to their particular circumstances, I would bet my bottom dollar that those who will benefit the most from it will be….Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham.