So, Everton are on the hook for more regulatory pain and Nottingham Forest have a first taste of the Premier League justice system. Both deny financial wrongdoing.
That notwithstanding, what kind of world are we living in when clubs that have allegedly transgressed, and comparatively lightly, can be hit with an anvil, while Manchester City, a club fighting 115 charges of financial irregularity, are still waiting for the outcome of those allegations which go back 15 years?
We have seen in other arenas how quickly the authorities are prepared to act when public sentiment is triggered by a sense of injustice.
If the British government can be rushed to action by a television drama highlighting the Post Office scandal, then why can’t the custodians of the Premier League not invoke emergency measures to bring to a just conclusion what many allege is an abuse of the system?
We are talking about the national game here, a feature of the English experience that touches millions of lives. Sport is a defining pillar of British culture, like the arts, a vibrant media, democratic politics, an independent judiciary, state welfare, the NHS, etc. It matters to so many, and as such falls under the responsibility of the highest authority in the land.
A football governance bill that will introduce an independent regulator “to safeguard the future of football clubs for the benefit of communities and fans” was announced by King Charles in November.
While we are waiting for the bill to pass into law, the Prime Minister might respond to the Premier League’s latest punishments by acting as he did in the Post Office case and invite his minister for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Lucy Frazer, to bring a sense of proportion to proceedings.
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee convenes on Wednesday to press Premier League and EFL bosses Richard Masters and Rick Parry on the impasse in negotiations between the leagues over the financial arrangements to safeguard the financial pyramid. How about admonishing the former while they are at it over the failure to bring about a fair and quick resolution to the City issue?
It cannot be right that clubs like Everton and Forest are held to account while City effectively lay siege to the process via an army of lawyers. Neither Everton nor Forest have at their disposal a sovereign wealth fund to fight their cause. The government knew all about the injustices perpetrated by the Post Office because they are the Post Office. It is entirely a state-operated entity.
The miscarriages of justice identified are 20 years old. They acted not on new information but appalling optics.
City’s lawyers have every right to fight the club’s case, but the fundamentals are not new. The charges deal with historical allegations stretching over 14 seasons dating back to 2009, which, in the light of the treatment of Everton and Forest, look out of step with what fair treatment looks like. This cannot be allowed to continue.
Though a date has yet to be confirmed, speculation points to autumn of this year for the hearing to start. Who knows when it might end? Enough is enough.
Fans of Everton are already in open revolt. Goodison Park is a sea of banners screaming corruption. The City Ground is about to join their outrage. Meanwhile City gallop on carrying all before them.
City’s wealth has utterly warped the competitive environment in England.
They made Newcastle, a club finding it much harder to spend even greater wealth than that available to City’s Abu Dhabi owners, look second rate at the weekend, and that was at St James’s Park.
Indeed it does not matter where City play, home or away, the impression is always the same, an unequal contest playing towards an inevitable conclusion.
The joy of watching City’s beautiful rhythms is drained by the predictability of outcomes. The experience stirs neither the imagination nor the loins. It is empty of meaning because the fight is unequal.
The Premier League is premised on thrills and excitement, on the potential of lesser beings to blood the noses of champions.
City have ploughed that idea into the ground. Great if they have followed the rules. Less so if they are found to have bent them like Beckham.
Either way we need to know. The authorities must make justice happen without delay or risk the whole edifice falling further into disrepute if not apart.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/yEBLNYm
Post a Comment