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Man City guilty of ‘sham’ contracts and misleading accounts
Manchester City have been found guilty of almost all the Premier League financial-rule charges brought against them, covering the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons. An independent commission said the club used sham commercial agreements to disguise funding and inflate revenues, allowing it to reduce costs and avoid recording what could have been the league’s largest single-season…
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Manchester City found guilty on all Premier League charges over rule breaches
An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of all the Premier League charges concerning financial rule breaches over nine seasons. It concluded that the club used sham commercial and image-rights arrangements to inflate income and conceal costs, potentially hiding breaches of Premier League and Uefa spending limits. The commission found that £830.6m of funding…
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Football Daily | Oh Jürgen! Mixed fortunes for the Nations League’s fab four
Four of world football’s most celebrated figures—Jürgen Klopp, Xavi Hernández, Roberto Mancini and Zinedine Zidane—have recently taken charge of national teams, and their early results in the Nations League have been remarkably divergent. After two matches, Zidane’s France stands alone with a perfect record, whilst Klopp’s Germany has suffered a historic first defeat to Greece,…
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Officer says he would repeat force used on 92-year-old care home resident
PC Stephen Smith told a disciplinary hearing that he would not have acted differently when he used pepper spray and a baton on 92-year-old Donald Burgess at a care home in East Sussex. Smith said he took an authoritative approach because it had worked in past incidents, though he accepted he had not asked staff…
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Burnham vows to seek new ‘long-term’ relationship with EU in emotional Labour conference speech
Andy Burnham used an emotional Labour conference speech to set out a more ambitious political agenda, saying he would seek a long-term relationship with the EU and pursue major changes to social care and pensions. He argued that Brexit has harmed growth and that the country needs a new direction, while accepting the proposals could…
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The Manchester City case shows us how the global mega-rich now expect to operate with impunity | Jonathan Liew
Manchester City has been found guilty of more than 100 charges of financial irregularity, a verdict that extends far beyond mere sporting transgression to represent what columnist Jonathan Liew describes as a “parable of power”. The case, rooted in leaked documents from 2018 and formally charged in 2023, illustrates how the club—majority-owned by Sheikh Mansour…
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Manchester City’s perfect start offers no guarantee of Premier League title
Manchester City are the only team to have won all five of their opening Premier League matches, giving them a three-point lead over champions Arsenal as they begin life after Pep Guardiola. But historical records suggest a perfect start offers no guarantee of the title: teams need to keep winning, and City’s early form will…
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Australia go down fighting to Brazil in fiery 4-2 friendly defeat
Brazil beat Australia 4-2 in a fiery friendly at Lang Park, recovering from a spell in which the Socceroos led 2-1. Australia’s response after conceding an early goal showed attacking ambition and progress under Tony Popovic, giving the match significance beyond the result as the team builds towards January’s Asian Cup. Vanderson put Brazil ahead…
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Heroic scuba diver who helped rescue Thai football team trapped in flooded cave for nine days dies aged 44
Canadian diver Erik Brown, who helped rescue the Thai football team trapped in the Tham Luang cave in 2018, has died aged 44. The operation drew worldwide attention, and Brown’s work supporting the divers was recognised with Canada’s Medal of Bravery. Brown spent 63 hours in the cave over nine days and seven missions, carrying…