There is lots of ridiculous things that have come up in the full report that has been released on Manchester City’s FFP cheating.
Ultimately the Court of Arbitration for Sport let them get away with it – largely as it was time-barred – meaning the misdemeanours occurred over five years ago and were no longer legally challengeable.
But this information Nick Harris has shared on Twitter regarding the Etihad sponsorship deal is insane.
Back in 2012/13, City had the biggest sponsorship deal in world football already, with Etihad.
Alarm bells should already be ringing, in short – but the company then – and we kid you not – renegotiated this already enormous deal four times.
There was nobody else competing for the contract, so why on earth would any sane company do this?
It’s blatant corruption, as journalist Harris sarcastically points out in this viral Twitter thread below.
For more inför, check out Harris’s full timeline on Twitter – it’s jaw-dropping.
So Etihad had an original 10-year, £350m deal with City, valid through to 2021. But choose to negotiate it upwards FOUR times between 2013 and 2016. That is an interesting strategy; they must have felt rivals were waiting to pounce and outbid them.
— Nick Harris (@sportingintel) July 28, 2020
Only on page 49 of 93 of a first close reading of the CAS decision. And to all those asking: no mentions yet of the losing under-bidders for these City sponsorship deals. I'm sure it's in there somewhere. If not I'll check City's website.
— Nick Harris (@sportingintel) July 28, 2020