Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, the two club states that aim to manage European football by winning the Champions League, which they have not yet succeeded in, are going through one of their most difficult periods since petrodollars began to enter their coffers. Qataris PSG blocked by Financial Fair Play, because his salary base is growing rapidly and he needs to cut his salary by 30% next season to comply with regulations and avoid million-dollar penalties. During, Manchester City is being investigated by the British Prosecutor for alleged financial fraud between 2009 and 2018., by concealing the true source of funding and declaring only a portion of the salaries of the players and coach Roberto Mancini to the Treasury. I would like to add to this the violation of Financial Fair Play and the impediment of the Prime Minister’s investigation since 2018.
Situations that shook the foundations of both existences and the permanence of some of their most important figures like Pep Guardiola or Leo Messi. In fact, the Argentinian player’s contract is ending this summer and a big debate has started in Paris about the suitability of his renewal next season. Former French PSG football player Jerome Rothen was most critical of this on the Radio Monte-Carlo (RMC) station: “In terms of numbers, the renewal of Messi is nonsense. Managing Messi, Mbappé and Neymar is complicated by their salary base. And we’ve seen PSG blocked by Financial Fair Play because their salaries skyrocketed. Since Messi’s salary is so high, they have a chance to get a substantial amount of money back. That’s why it would be a very bad idea to replace Messi.”
PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi has yet to decide on the club’s blockade status or Messi’s future. Added to this is that the team has had its worst sporting moment in recent seasons. They were eliminated from the Cup after losing to Olympique de Marseille the week before, and despite leading the League in their last four games, they only had one win (Toulouse), a draw against Montpellier and lost to Rennes and Monaco. All this before they face Bayern in the first leg of the round of 16 on Tuesday in a panorama full of uncertainties. Kylian Mbappé is being severely punished for muscle fatigue and Lionel Messi, who is very difficult to play and has overloaded his hamstrings, could do it but is physically handicapped.
Shouting in the PSG locker room
The atmosphere in the dressing room is stifling and manager Christophe Galtier doesn’t seem to have much of a future at the club. Everything blew up after the defeat against Monaco last weekend. After the match played at the Luis II Monegasque stadium, a heated argument took place between the team members and PSG Sporting Director Luis Campos. According to reports in the French press There was shouting between Neymar, Marquinhos and the leader. Also, Neymar criticized Hugo Ekitike for some decisions, and Marquinhos and Gianluigi Donarumma had faced teammates before. He didn’t witness anything that hurt Messi and Mbappé.
Beyond the complex sports moment, UEFA imposed a €65m sanction on PSG last August, 10 of which are already in the vault of the body headed by Aleksandr Ceferin. The moment when Parisians again disobeyed financial regulations. Therefore, he now has to reduce his salary base by 30% to accommodate new regulations that will come into effect next season. It’s just a problem for a team that doesn’t profit from championships, or at least the Champions League, from its multimillion-dollar spending on players. And all with the future of Messi in the air.
Manchester City’s problem seems even more serious, as they will appear on the Champions League stage on February 22 against Leipzig in Germany. The club was referred to an independent commission by the Premier League after being accused of allegedly violating the competition’s financial rules. The Prime Minister reported that the club refrained from providing the information of the accounts in “good faith” with a “correct and fair” vision, which is a violation of the financial rules of competition that may occur from the 2009-2010 season to the 2017 academic year. year -2018.
City surveyed by the government
The competition reported that the alleged violations affected five domains. The first is their sponsorship, the second is their sponsorship. It will affect the salary of Italian Roberto Mancini, the club’s coach from 2009 to 2013, and the changes in the salaries of players from 2010 to 2016.. Third, it will address UEFA’s fiscal ‘Fair Play’ breach between 2013 and 2018. It should be noted that in 2020 UEFA expelled City from competitions for not complying with economic control, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAD) canceled it. Sanctioned in July of the same year. The fourth clause warns that it did not comply with the regulations on “profitability and sustainability” between 2015 and 2018. The fifth area refers to regulations that impose an obligation on clubs to “cooperate and assist the Premier League in their research”. From 2018 until today it did not fit.
There are more than 100 violations condemned by the Premier that could set exemplary sanctions for Manchester City. for a start could face a sanction similar to Juventus’ by losing points same season, however, the penalty can go much further and even Disqualification from Premier and losing titles obtained during the years of alleged fraud, which would have meant losing. Premier, FA Cup and League Cup. And finally, the most serious penalty will be a possible reduction in the category, This could jeopardize the club’s immediate future and the financial position of the Arab conglomerate City Football Group, which brings together a dozen franchises around the world.
A lot protector He spoke about the case and wanted to send a message of calm to his fans: “I won’t move from my seat. I assure you, I want to stay more than ever. Sometimes I have doubts because it’s been seven or eight years.” It’s been a long time, but I don’t want to go anymore. People say ‘you were lied to’. They didn’t lie to me, look what happened to uefa, it’s the same situation now. Why should I trust my own people and trust the managers of other clubs? Unless we are innocent, we will accept that the judge or the Premier League decides. But what if we end up in the same situation (as with the UEFA accusation) and remain innocent? What about compensating for damages or paying us?”
While the World Cup contention in Qatar, the Spanish Super Cup in Arabia and the ‘sport washing’ campaigns initiated by the governments with the signature of Cristiano make the most noise, the State clubs are living their most complicated days in the old Europe due to their financial anger. For Ronaldo Al-Nassr…