Dean Young, Socialist Party north west organiser
After over three years of investigations into the financial dealings of Manchester City Football Club, a verdict has been given. The independent commission, created to carry out the investigation, concluded it is guilty of 114 out of 115 charges over things ranging from lying about sponsorship money, non-cooperation with footballing authorities and breaking spending rules by an estimate of roughly £900 million. Man City has begun an appeals process.
Man City, historically the smaller club in Manchester, was, due to ‘financial doping’, able to dominate the largest sport in the world, in the biggest league in the world.
It’s not just that fans of rival football clubs feel bitter that their teams were cheated by City’s rule breaking. It’s what this represents. City were bought by the Abu Dhabi group, royalty from the UAE, in 2008. This was done on the basis of their desire to ‘sportswash’ their reputation.
Andy Burnham, as Manchester mayor, worked with Man City and its owners’ sportswashing. This has resulted in the prime minister making excuses for them, saying: “Well, I would be really concerned to lose them. They’ve been such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester.” He then had to scramble to backpedal. Burnham is a football fan but his comments are completely out of touch with most others.
Because the Abu Dhabi group sit on vast riches, being part of the UAE ruling elite, they had unlimited resources available. Restrictions were put in place to stop this and they have been found guilty of circumventing these rules over a period of nine years.
Man City employs many people, who will worry what this means for their futures? Similarly, many people will have lost livelihoods because the financial doping meant City relegated their clubs which, such is capitalism, sacked staff to reduce costs.
The football industry
This is not a problem of just Man City; football is run as a capitalist industry that seeks to make profit. The Man City owners have just been caught being far too vulgar cutting corners compared to the more traditional billionaire capitalists running say Manchester United, Liverpool or Arsenal.
Former pro Roy Keane said on a well-known podcast: “If a business was doing this they’d be accused of cooking the books and face prison time.” I was amused. That would be a logical conclusion. Not so in this capitalist system rigged for the super-rich!
The debate has largely centred on the punishment of Man City. Should their titles be stripped from 2009 onwards? Should they face relegation? Should they get a transfer ban? Should every team get to nick one of their players as compensation? (I put first dibs on Haaland for Liverpool.)
It is almost certain footballing punishments will be correctly given. These punishments will unfairly affect working-class fans of Man City who had no role in the corruption of their club’s owners. However the club, and its fans, existed before these owners. They will do long after too.
The solution on how to avoid future scandals on this scale is a complete overhaul in how football is run. Germany has a 50+1 rule for club ownership, meaning supporters own a majority stake in each club historically. That would be a good start, but ultimately clubs should be owned and run by and for the working-class communities they represent.
Clubs should open up their financial books for inspection by club staff and their unions, and supporters’ clubs, and ultimately to the working class as a whole. Then we can inspect to see if it just City up to no good.
Ultimately, football must no longer be treated as an industry for profit. Football exists as the world’s favourite leisure activity. Without the working-class people who play it from childhood and watch it, ultimately it is nothing.
For the greed to be flushed out of football we need democratic control and management of all clubs, and the wider sport, and a socialist planned economy run in the interests of people not profit.
