06 Oct 2026 13:46:14
After listening to a lot of stuff on the City situation, I have a worry that they might have a chance to get any punishment overturned on the basis of competition law. The same as the UEFA charges.
It's blatantly obvious that City systematically broke the EPL rules on owner investment, and made every effort to hide it. Their defence that the money didn't come directly from the owners is silly, and I assume that their appeal to the EPL will fail. Under the EPL rules they're caught bang to rites.
However, an appeal to the high court on the basis of competition law looks more complicated. Post-2020 football clubs have made a significant shift away from being community organisations, and are now de facto private businesses. I would assume that the real City legal strategy is to argue that the EPL rules are anti-competitive. Something along the lines of: the rules prevent smaller businesses from investing the necessary money to become a market leader.
The fact that City voted for these rules and understood that they were bound by them counts against the club. Still, the fact that this argument comes with broader business precedent, makes things murkier. If City's owners were in another sector, it would be perfectly legal for them to invest whatever they deemed necessary to compete against the market leaders. This makes it come down to the high court weighing industry agreed rules against broader principles of competition law. And, these broader laws tend to suggest that industry rules should not be used as a means to prevent smaller/newer businesses from competing with the more established market leaders.
For me, this is another negative impact of football losing its communal identity. Because clubs have gone full steak ahead into becoming solely commercial entities, this opens potential legal loopholes for City. I would be astonished and disgusted if City wormed their way out. But I have a gnawing feeling that the fear of City suing the EPL is they are punished and the decision is overturned on appeal will prevent any action until they've exhausted every avenue. Not only has City's cheating put a dark cloud over the past two decades, their appeals could ruin the next decade too.
07 Oct 2026 07:17:23
doesn't work that way. The appeal to the courts can only be in the contexts of the contractual positions they bound themselves to. In order to operate.
There is one defence, vi coactis meaning they were forced to agreee under duress. But the reality is they were not under duress, otherwise all clubs could bring the same claim.
They cheated the contract they agreed to. Plain and simple. Of course lawyers say its highly co. plex and deeply difficult. that's lawyer talk for great a really big payday because the stakes are high. As in most law, the common man can see very plainly what the outcome is most likely to be.
07 Oct 2026 13:51:12
Competition law explicitly allows sports bodies to enforce financial controls provided they serve a legitimate aim like financial stability or competitive balance. Broadly speaking, tribunals support a league's right to cap losses and limit direct owner injections, even if specific procedural rules get struck down along the way.
​City cannot simply take the decision to the High Court if they don't like the outcome. PL disputes are handled through binding arbitration, which means a court will not re-evaluate the arguments or re-try the case on competition law grounds. For a High Court judge to even look at an arbitral ruling, there has to be evidence of serious procedural misconduct or a total lack of legal jurisdiction. The legal process can certainly be dragged out with procedural challenges, but competition law alone will not automatically undo an arbitral finding on concealed funding.
07 Oct 2026 19:58:02
City will get sorted and I hope they do as they deserve it. Cheating rats!
07 Oct 2026 20:43:31
Too many problems economically for the structure of our football league and also the economic investment in this country to sort out.
I can see there being a big fine and maybe a one season points deduction plus transfer ban but this country is corrupted by money at so many levels especially government level and this government will be desperate to keep foreign investment in this country as without it there is no possibility of their economic policies having even the slightest chance of working.
(Labour never understand that you have to allow business to make profit and they are too scared to cut the welfare overspend so ultimately having foreign investment is not gong to help them substantially)