People need to stand trial
Manchester City being found guilty is very refreshing; no football club is bigger than the organisations that implement rules to keep the flow of the game in a positive way. Manchester City being found guilty on 114 charges shows that football cannot be played with money, as the game is based on integrity and capital management.
Although the club has appealed the charges, they should not be allowed to get away with this. Football needs transparency, and the game needs people within it who are fair and treat the game with respect.
Manchester City shows that sportwashing is the real thing, as they have blinded football fans with their glamour signings and have abused their power. The ability to spend $1 billion on players’ salaries and transfers, and hide them, is a heinous crime.
The punishment should be harsher than point deductions. The punishment should be a ban from football to show that cheaters don’t belong in the game. Manchester City should be made an example of to show other clubs that rules exist and must be obeyed.
Manchester City has acted as if it is bigger than football, and even bigger than the Premier League. A lesser punishment will destroy the Premier League and tarnish the reputation of English football forever.
The threats from the owners show that they know what they have done to football, and this is not fair on the fans who travel to see their clubs that get beaten by Manchester City because they weren’t allowed to have some of the players that they had.
Andy Burnham has spoken about the charges, and he should hold the owners accountable and urge them to sell the club. It should matter if the UK-UAE diplomatic ties are cut off because of these charges; the UK can welcome other ties around the world to the City of London.
Our game should not be used as a monopoly board game where billionaires think they can buy clubs and mismanage the capital to their advantage. We should investigate all these foreign owners, including the Glazers of Manchester United and Kroenke of Arsenal.
