Top clubs want Manchester City's £400m sponsorship deal vetoed

[lloydi]

This does all seem a bit too convenient for City with the new UEFA rules coming in and the ties to their owners.

Europe's leading clubs will petition UEFA to block Manchester City's new £400million endorsement deal.
They want City's ground and shirt sponsorship contract with Etihad Airlines outlawed because they believe it has been artificially inflated in an attempt to balance the books.

Welcome to the Ethihad stadium! City's new deal is worth £400m

UEFA's new Financial Fair Play rules insist clubs live within their means and City, who have incurred losses of £213.5m over the last two years, had little hope of complying before the huge deal.
The governing body also demand that clubs demonstrate they have received market value for any deal, to prevent owners from subsidising clubs through companies that are closely associated with them. UEFA's Independent Club Financial Control Panel will investigate the Etihad deal but rivals want to pressure them into action. If UEFA do outlaw the deal, boss Roberto Mancini could see his spending plans curtailed.

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Opposition clubs have been emboldened by the fact the contract is a world record, outstripping even the remarkable £18m-a-year stadium naming rights deal the New Yorks Mets, a much-more established sports brand, have with Citibank.
The fact that Etihad was set up by the Emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheik Khalifa, who is the brother of City's owner, Sheik Mansour, has also fuelled their suspicions.
Etihad is the national airline carrier of Abu Dhabi and itself has never made a profit since it was formed in 2003, though it is expected to make money this year.


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[Nikki]

Load of money, wonder if the ticket prices will go up as well?

Does seem very strange how they are all related though.

[wijit]

It is more than a bit naughty, and in all but name dodgy. But is it any worse than other "dealings" which go on within the game on a day-to-day basis?
Mansour has been good for that club, and also for the area around it in general. When he took over, there were no such rules in place so would he have taken over if these rules were in place at the time? It seems like all these other clubs don't like it in spite of most of the bigger clubs exceeding their income for years, and are now spitting their dummies out.
For the record, I don't like it but until rich owners get bored with their toys, it's the way the game is going.

[SiE]

If it helps pay our deficit i dont care. Any money coming in to the country at the moment is welcome

[Gunny]

I couldn't really care less about the deal but if UEFA don't block this, then they should scrap the Financial Fair Play Regulations, as it makes a mockery of them.

[Lighty]

fuelling suspiscion!! Haha dont make me laugh, I knew the moment I heard that it was etihad airways that it was a bent deal, dont really care there still a small time club...........

[Fear345]

It's near on money laundering isn't it ?