Manchester City Accused Of Cheating FFP In Latest Football Leaks

Manchester City have reportedly cheated to break UEFA's financial fair play according to the latest Football Leaks being reported by German media outlet Spiegel.

Last week it was leaked that the European football elite have already held discussions about a 'Super League.' It is not totally a surprise that an idea that has long been mooted has already been discussed but the confirmation caused suspicion that the reality is ever closer.

However the leaks have not ended there. It has been claimed that Monaco used offshore accounts to bypass UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules with the Ligue 1 side denying the allegations.

Inter and Bayern Munich have also been on the end of some of the leaks with a story about the transfer of Xherdan Shaqiri to the Italian side from the Bundesliga champions being leaked.

The Inter and Bayern story wasn't exactly mind blowing stuff but the latest allegations could have a huge impact on European football with Manchester City reportedly financially doping to get past FFP.

According to German media outlet Spiegel the Premier League champion's owner Sheikh Mansour has been funding the club's sponsorship deals:

Spiegel report on an email they've seen from the club, writing, ""We will have a shortfall of 9.9m pounds in order to comply with UEFA FFP this season," Man City's Chief Financial Officer Jorge Chumillas wrote in an internal email. "The deficit is due to RM (eds: a reference to Roberto Mancini) termination. I think that the only solution left would be an additional amount of AD (eds: Abu Dhabi) sponsorship revenues that covers this gap.""

The German outlet continued, "That is of vital importance when it comes to UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules. If the club goes on a shopping spree with the sheikh's money, those expenditures must be declared, which quickly puts the balance sheet in the red. If, however, that money can be disguised as sponsoring money, it looks like revenues and Man City can afford larger expenditures without fear of UEFA sanctions."

The report is just part one of a four part leak into the Etihad owned club and it will be interesting to see what else comes from the leaks and what the reaction is from the club's hierarchy.

Topics: Manchester City, Football News, FFP, Premier League, Champions League

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a writer for SPORTbible. He covers all sport from football, formula one, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics, mma and wrestling. He obviously hates YOUR football team and has no interest in synchronised swimming.

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