‘We already knew this’, ‘has already been proven wrong’ – Man City fans react as Leaked report’ accuses the club over £30m payment

A new documentary covering the details behind Manchester City’s 115 alleged breaches of FFP law accuses the club of using a ‘mystery broker’ to funnel sponsorship money.

In February, it was revealed that Man City have been charged by the Premier League for ‘more than 100’ breaches of its financial rules.

This followed a four-year probe into their conduct between 2009/10 and 2017/18. The Premier League subsequently referred City to an independent commission.

An outcome is yet to be reached regarding these charges, but Martyn Ziegler and Matt Lawton of The Times have posted a detailed update after a ‘leaked report revealed that a mystery figure from the United Arab Emirates paid Manchester City £30m’.

The two £15m payments – which were made in 2012 and 2013 – were submitted to ‘cover sums that were supposed to have come from one of their main sponsors’.

This is according to an as yet unpublished UEFA report, which has ‘been obtained by the makers of a YouTube film about Man City’s finances’. The report adds.

It is also revealed that the ‘makers of the film have kept their identities secret’. While they insist that they are ‘not funded by any Middle East state or any other agency’, Man City ‘suspect there may be geopolitical motives behind the production’ amid the ‘political tensions between the UAE and Qatar’.

Ziegler and Lawton note in the report that The Times have seen a ‘copy of the UEFA report’, which states: “At the hearing, leading counsel for the club, responding to questions from the adjudicatory committee, stated that the payer was Jaber Mohamed.”

The report from The Times adds: ‘Sources with knowledge of the Uefa case have told The Times that investigators were unable to verify the identity of Mohamed, and tried unsuccessfully for City to provide him as a witness at the CAS hearing.’

UEFA initially punished City with a two-year European ban in 2019, only for that to be overturned the following year by the CAS, due to time elapsed since the alleged offences.

A passage from the UEFA report concluded: “At the hearing, leading counsel for the club, responding to questions from the adjudicatory committee, stated that the payer was Jaber Mohamed.”

It still remains unclear whom ‘Jaber Mohamed’ is, with The Times reporting its sources were ‘unable to verify their identity.’ It’s claimed City also refused to provide the payer as a witness at the CAS hearing three years ago.

City’s 115 charges span a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018, overlapping with the club’s rise to English domination. Italian Roberto Mancini was at the club’s helm when they won their first Premier League crown in 2012, going on to lift seven of the past 12 such titles on offer.

The Manchester powerhouse has also been charged with failing to comply with the FFP investigation after allegedly withholding financial documents relating to the past five seasons.

City are taking legal action against the Premier League’s 115 charges – accusing them of rule violations. The club is disputing the legitimacy of the investigation as well as the involvement of an Arsenal-supporting barrister overseeing the disciplinary proceedings.

The news was shared on Twitter by City Xtra and as usual attracted plenty of attention from the club’s supporters.

@Billal_Ait: “Here we go again”

@bagotits: “We already knew this. It’s the Etisalat sponsorship.”

@stockport: “Same sh*t, just being recycled..”

@dankthemanc: “Laughable thing is the PL sat on this for 10/11 years and didn’t do anything about it. Recycled news in the hope that it’ll stick. City are going to end so many people. Cannot. Wait..”

@fihlela_: “It was literally a sponsorship deal with Etisalat. But make up what you like
The CAS judgement is there for everyone to read. The media must just say what they really want to say about City.”

@izzy900is: “We really shouldn’t be bothering with nonsense talk like this cause when the club is done with proving it’s Innocence, a lot of Lawsuits will be flying around. I can’t wait, more than you believe.”

@JPJoker01: “This isn’t even new information, and has already been proven wrong”

What makes this claim so funny to me is not only had we just won the league and had all the earnings off the back of that, but THIS was our transfer window that summer. As you can see, we splashed the cash https://t.co/cvksxKx1tD pic.twitter.com/JRwm7pheRH

— Leo🇧🇼 (@mcfcIeo_) June 29, 2023

It’s nothing knew complete non story pic.twitter.com/V2GE4PCLLO

— FiftyShades MCFC (@FiftyShadesMCFC) June 29, 2023