The world of football was rocked this week by the news that the Premier League have charged Manchester City with over 100 alleged breaches of financial regulations. Pep Guardiola’s side have gone toe-to-toe with Liverpool over the last five years, pipping them to the title on two occasions, as they did back in 2014.
Guardiola was in a combative mood in his press conference ahead of City’s game away to Aston Villa this Sunday. Jürgen Klopp refused to comment on the allegations, unlike many pundits across all forms of media. Some have suggested that should the charges be proven, the current league champions should be relegated, citing the punishment meted out to Juventus following the Calciopoli scandal in 2006.
On the latest episode of our Journo Insight Show, we asked goal.com’s Neil Jones for his take on the allegations.
JURGEN KLOPP & JAMES PEARCE’S BUST-UP EXPLAINED!
Neil said:
“There are nine years of [alleged] financial breaches and I think four or five years of obstructing the investigation. I don’t think I’m going too far – I’m saying it’s probably one of the most significant stories we’ve ever seen in the Premier League era, potentially.
“You think of the memories, you think of three league titles won on the final day, one of them in the most dramatic circumstances ever. Another one last season won in pretty dramatic circumstances with three goals in six minutes. Narrow title races and great players, so many of them. If proven guilty there are asterisks next to them.
“I don’t like to do that kind of thing because you can never take away those memories for City fans with Agüero and Yaya Touré and David Silva, İlkay Gündoğan and all those players, but if you were saying that they’ve been breaking the rules flagrantly for nine years, more potentially, how does it not asterisk it?”
Redmen Reacts
As tempting as it is to use these allegations as a point-scoring exercise, the news has profound ramifications for football and should not be met with glee by supporters. Should the charges be proven, awarding Liverpool additional league titles would feel appropriate for some fans, but there is no way to replace the feelings that would have arisen at the time.
The charges give some validity to those who feel uneasy about the idea of investment from those with links to powerful nation-states. These are men used to getting what they want, whatever the cost, so it only seems natural that this same attitude could be applied to football. Manchester City have assembled one of the greatest teams in the history of English football, and it has been a real rollercoaster ride for the Reds watching the two battle it out over the last half-decade or so. How much does it really mean if the playing field has not been level for much of this rivalry?
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