15 Mar 2019 07:10:11
Question for ed002 if possible,

Are City going to be handed a ban for their dealings with third parties, payment to young players and the African foundation whose name escapes me?

We've already seen Chelsea get a ban and there's talk of city getting one (plus rumblings of another punishment for their skirting of FFP) .

A secondary question is will we see a ban heading our way as well due to the issues with youth player payments as well?

Thanks.

{Ed002's Note - The two situations are very, very different. Chelsea and the FA have been punished over the timing of signings of younger players and registration issues - that will impact many EPL sides but it is largely noise. Chelsea do have a charge that they are reasonably guilty of (althouh the rules are unclear and they knowing exploited them). They also have another charge related to a "third party payment" that relates to paying money to family on the basis that the family were acting as agents. This is another issue that will be contested as it will also impact most major European sides based on the argument that the family are not agents. The issue, or one of the issues, for Manchester City is that they paid a third party acting as an agent, and it was not the family. Additionally the have the same registration issue as Chelsea (that will extend to many other EPL sides) that will need to be addressed. That is clearly way beyond the rules. They have other questions to answer regarding sponsorship (and they are not the only club at risk there). All of this is subject to an appeals process. Certainly I am aware of the transfer of certain other players they are or will be looking in to and certainly Liverpool, or ex-Liverpool, players on that list. And the list grows once investigations are underway.}

1.) 15 Mar 2019
15 Mar 2019 09:58:11
Appreciate the response, there are so many teams that these practices apply to in so many countries that it seems that if this is something uefa/ FIFA want to crack down on they will be chasing this cause for a very long time.

Thanks again ed.

{Ed002's Note - They are really going to far with these back to the academy loans though. It is a real can of worms.}