𝗠𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 - 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗱? 🪦 It’s not about the cheating. Sure, they smuggled hundreds upon hundreds of millions of owner funding into the club, disguised as sponsor revenue (as well as paying staff and overheads off-book) gaining a huge illicit advantage that meant they could outspend all competition. Yes, it’s what enabled them to cheat their way to all that tainted silverware and fully corrupt the integrity of the league. But you know what? If the League earnestly believed they could rein in Man City with regular sanctions, I think they would do. Hell, if Man City had plead out at the start, they might have got away with a mere relegation. But it’s about how they responded to getting caught that means these owners won’t be permitted to remain in the League. After the initial Der Speigel leak, Uefa went for them, at pace. Man City refused to cooperate or share evidence. Uefa sanctioned them. At CAS, Uefa shat the bed and Man City were let off. But shortly after that, Der Speigel leaked more emails which demonstrated Club officials and senior business leaders had lied - committed perjury - to get Man City off. They were caught with their pants down; their shame out there for everyone to see. No ambiguity. No missing context. Clear as day. They cheated and lied about it. Yet when the Premier League sought to investigate, again, Man City refused to comply. So the League took them to arbitration to force them. Man City lost and yet they still refused to comply. Instead, they took the matter to the High Court and Court of Appeal… and lost twice again. Only then did they comply (whether they’d tried to sabotage the original evidence by then, who knows - I’d put nothing past them). Throughout, Man City have demonstrated a total preparedness to corrupt the integrity of the competitions they are in and a refusal to accept the authority of the leagues to protect that integrity. Instead, they sought to conduct highly expensive lawfare to evade justice. You cannot allow such a powerful, malign actor to be part of your collective. They’re simply too dangerous. You just have to expel them. That’s why I have suspected the Independent Commission will recommend expulsion and sufficient clubs would vote for it. What could save them? A sacrifice. A fall guy. Someone that can take all the blame and walk away. The thing is, there are very few people who this could credibly be. Based on the leaked emails, it would have to be the entire executive for sure as well as Simon Pearce. But also, one of Khaldoon or Mansour. Given Khaldoon’s been put front and centre with the media for dealings with world leaders lately… and Mansour has basically been hidden away, with hit pieces out connecting him to the genocide in Sudan… I don’t think it’s a stretch to believe Mansour would be the one taking the bullet. Take the fines, compensation claims, stripped titles, and relegation on the chin and agree to sell the club to prevent expulsion. One or the other it must be. And hopefully, this summer, not next.