https://twitter.com/tariqpanja/status/1512041978002907142?s=20&t=4OeZT3PdcUAlwxlrfWNtEw
https://twitter.com/tariqpanja/status/1512040820093956105
https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/sponsorship-money-paid-for-by-the-state-a-2ad5b586-1d82-4a21-8065-f3c081cd91a4
New findings from Der Spiegel and the journalism network European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) show that the holding company behind Manchester City appears to have violated the rules by paying millions in fees to player agents and also orchestrated a secret, triangular deal to sign an underage player. Numerous documents provided by the whistleblower platform Football Leaks provide a deep look at the club’s inner workings and at government agencies in Abu Dhabi – sufficient to inflict a few chinks in Man City’s juridical defensive wall.
Agency chief Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the de facto prime minister of Abu Dhabi, is head of the state investment fund and is also chairman of Manchester City. He apparently approved money flows that were controlled by the government before ending up in the accounts of the football team. Payment requests for agent fees were sent to the EAA’s general counsel, with ManCity sending an invoice for the sponsorship company Etisalat to Omar Awad, the finance director of the government agency.
According to information obtained by DER SPIEGEL, that investigation is focusing on three primary allegations.
1.) Underage players were allegedly pressured to sign contracts with Manchester City through monetary payments, in violation of the rules.
2.) Club sponsors in Abu Dhabi are suspected of having provided only a portion of their payments to the club themselves, with the majority apparently coming from Sheikh Mansour himself.
3.) Roberto Mancini, who is currently the trainer for the Italian national team but who spent the years from 2009 to 2013 as the trainer for ManCity, is thought to have received a significant portion of his compensation secretly by way of a fictitious consultancy contract.