“It is similar to Enron”: The President of La Liga accuses Manchester City of financial deception Manchester City

Manchester City accused President Javier Tebas President Javier Tebas in a financial deception in the Enron style.

Tebas said the Spanish league submitted a complaint against the city to the European Commission in the summer of 2023, which the Commission says. City has not commented on Tebas’s allegations, but club sources are their knowledge and are emphatic.

Tebas claims that City has used related companies in the United Arab Emirates to hide losses and thus improve the club’s own balance sheet, and compared them with the Enron scandal. It was found that the managers of Enron have harvested millions with the help of a network of partnerships to make false profits and to hide the company’s true debts.

Tebas said in a press conference at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit: “City has many companies in their group, which are outside the structure of the city of football group, additional companies in which they submit their expenses. These other companies lose the money, but not the club itself. We have reported them to the European Union (SIC). We have the facts and numbers.

“We asked to check the city. It is very important that all clubs are subject to the same transparency rules and governance on both the sporting and on the financial side. The case in the city is one in which we believe that they have given the companies that are not officially part of the City Football Group.

“Do you remember the case in the United States? The Enron case. What they did, they got their losses and brought them to different companies. Well, it’s a similar case. “

Tebas added: “You (city) have a scouting company, a marketing company. They have very high costs there. You calculate City for less money. City has costs that are less than if they did not have this company group. “

When asked about the status of the complaint, Tebas replied: “I think it is in the examination phase. We had no answer, so it must be in the examination phase. “

City rejected it to make a comment, but sources near the club said that Tebas had a long story in which the city was attacked. It is understood that the club emphasizes the allegations and sources that have pointed out the accounts of the club that are public records in order not to prove misconduct. Details of La Liga’s complaint, which is seen by PA, claim that the city’s financing mechanisms on the internal market of the European Union cause a serious distortion.

The complaint was submitted as part of the European regulation of state subsidies, since the city allegedly received foreign subsidies from the United Arab Emirates. La Liga claims that the club improve its competitive position and cause considerable distortions in various national and EU markets.

La Liga claims these foreign subsidies, made it possible for the club to sign first-class players and trainers who go far beyond what would be possible under the normal market conditions and to achieve sponsorship income at levels that do not correspond to the fair market value. La Liga, in turn, claimed, improved the club’s sporting performance and at the same time influenced the recruitment capacity of competing clubs.

The claims from Tebas come at a time when the city expects an independent commission to judge a judgment after being charged by the Premier League in February 2023, with more than 100 violations of the Premier League rules, which they strenuous.