Thread by @sportingintel

Lots of commentary in past 36hrs about why PL charges under PSR rules against EFC and NFFC appear to be being expedited, while Man City's 115 charges (from an investigation dating back to 2018) linger, TBD on a now-agreed but not public timetable 1/n

Everton (for a second time) and Forest have been charged for "simple" failures to balance their books around the "acceptable" losses of £105m over a 3-year ruling period. 2/n

Whereas Man City's 115 charges effectively amount to accusations they were conducting financial fraud on a grand scale over a long period, and hoodwinking not just the PL but UEFA, and not co-operating. 3/n

We know from Football Leaks and other sources that the City hierarchy's view has long been they'd “rather spend £30m on the 50 best lawyers” and sue Uefa “for the next ten years” than accept a punishment. THIS is plutocracy. 4/n

They HAVE spent millions on lawyers. The've used every legal avenue possible to stall the process. When I was an MoS reporter in 2021 we used an external QC to gain access to "open justice" and attend court as City tried to stymie the PL's investigation. 5/n

If Man City's supposed mountain of irrefutable evidence of their innocence is ready to go, then bring it on and get it sorted. For the benefit of everyone. 6/n

They could have cooperated almost SIX years ago when the PL first started investigating them, and they didn't. That's their prerogative. It's not great on the optics but they don't care about optics. 7/n

There is also a massive (MASSIVE) political element to this case. Sheikh Mansour is the deputy PM of a significant political ally of the United Kingdom. Imagine if he and his club were shamed by multiple guilty verdicts. Unprecedented and unpalatable. 8/n

I'll be submitting further FOIs to try to establish the extent of British government involvement in the PL vs City case, but others so far have been fruitless. The stakes are SO much higher than whether a football club broke some football rules. 9/n

Some (some) City fans go to extremes to convince themselves there's no case against City. Despite having been fined 90m euros (later reduced to "only" 30m) for major breaches of financial rules, and dishonesty, and non-cooperation. Before 115 PL charges. 10/n

I've reported on City my whole working life. I knew, and know, people inside the club at all levels. I've been Khaldoon's guest in their directors' suite (albeit before I called them out). I have multiple sources who told me what really happened. 11/n

Man City's hierarchy realised around 2010 that they needed "accelerated investment' before UEFA's FFP came into force. Their solution was cooking the books. That was evident from their 2014 punishment onwards. It's all been in plain sight. 12/12

Goodnight. X