Manchester City has had a few good years recently. With great deals, wins, and an amazing line-up, one would assume that City is having the best of its time.
In addition to winning four consecutive Premier League championships, Manchester City also won the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 2023. As a result of this success, the City went overboard with spending. Their carefree attitude towards money caught the eye of La Liga boss Javier Tebas.
In a recent press conference, Tebas accused Manchester City of financial fraud. Tebas pointed fingers at the City’s financial management and accused the club of writing off its losses to its subsidiary companies.
He made his accusation and reported the premier club to the European Union.
La Liga president disclosed that he reported Man City to the European Union for allegedly breaking regulations about state-owned teams. He has accused them of mocking the Financial Fair play rules.
🚨 La Liga president Tebas: “I spoke to many Premier League clubs and most of them understand that Man City should be sanctioned”.
🔵↪️ Pep Guardiola: “I don’t know if Javier Tebas is a lawyer, or all PL teams are lawyers. So wait! It happened with UEFA…”. pic.twitter.com/WSFJqfzyU2
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 13, 2024
These rules are the standards set by the UEFA. They are enforced to ensure soccer teams manage their finances and stay solvent. Regardless of the wealth of their owners, the rules are meant to provide all clubs with an even playing field.
FFP regulations keep teams from experiencing financial difficulties that would jeopardize their long-term viability. According to these regulations, clubs are not allowed to spend more than they make in a certain time frame, which stops them from funding infrastructure or youth development programs.
Clubs that are found to break these rules are fined heavily.
Javier Tebas, in his letter, said that the City has been breaking FFP rulings for a long time. He compared the club’s financial fraud to that of the Enron Case in the US, which ended with millions in fines, the destruction of a financial firm, and several executives in jail.
Tebas, in his letter, wrote that there are numerous businesses in the Manchester City’s group. Many of these are not part of the City Football Group structure. The club allocates its loss to these businesses and avoids it from appearing on its balance book. The club itself does not lose money, but these other businesses do.
Tebas has asked the EU to investigate the football club. He also claims to have numbers and stats of financial mismanagement on the City’s part. He again emphasized the importance of keeping financial transparency and athletic governance among clubs.
BREAKING: La Liga president Javier Tebas says the Spanish league has filed a legal complaint to the EU Commission, alleging that Manchester City have breached EU Competition Law 🚨 pic.twitter.com/LMl017Z8dw
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 27, 2025
Tebas said that LaLiga thought City’s Abu Dhabi owners had unlawfully boosted the team’s competitive standing by abusing their wealth.
Manchester City has called this an attempt to sabotage the club’s name. City officials have said that Tebas has a history of attacking their club, and they will not entertain such bullying behavior. They have also pointed out how Tebas calls City a “state-owned club”, thus proving their point of unnecessary hatred.
The city has pointed out that all its records are public. Therefore, anyone and everyone is welcome to make their own decisions regarding the club’s expenses.
