You don’t have to be an avid follower of football to be aware of the financial cases that have been made against Manchester City. There have been over 100 charges brought against the club, the results of which are reported to be revealed imminently. Whilst the legitimacy of the case against the club lies in the courts, high profile and influential figures in the game are already trying to leverage the situation to their benefit.

La Liga President Javier Tebas is a long term critic of the City regime, and revealed this week at the FT Business of Football Summit that he had reported the club to authorities back in 2023. His complaints were made to the European Commission and largely centred around Associated Party Transactions (APT) within the City Football Group, something we have covered in detail as well.

Tebas believes City has a structure that circumvents the rules and therefore has a competitive advantage domestically and in continental competition. The latter is particularly relevant for someone that is the key representative for Spanish clubs competing in Europe. He went further in comments that were reported by the BBC:

“City have a lot of companies in their group which lie outside the City Football Group structure, extra companies where they put their expenses.”

“These other companies lose the money but not the club itself. We have reported Manchester City to the EU. We have the facts and figures.”

“We asked for City to be checked. It’s very important that all clubs are subject to the same transparency rules and governance on both the sporting and financial side.”

“The City case is one where we believe they have put the losses on the companies that are not officially part of City Football Group.”

“City have costs that are less than if they didn’t have this circle of companies around.”

Tebas is a key La Liga representative and it is clearly in his interest to ensure that any concerns are communicated via the relevant channels. Yet by making this complaint public, rather than to let the legal process run its course, Tebas appears to be displaying a desperate case of sour grapes towards Manchester City and the Premier League.

Firstly, the complaint doesn’t actually comprise of anything new or original in the ongoing debate and legal cases against City. If anything, his remarks just make the litigation seem personally driven by stakeholders that aren’t keen to allow the previous status-quo in European football the be upset. City’s legal team will be quick to jump on  any sense of a conspiracy against them amongst key footballing stakeholders, and will be able to credibly argue that they are being singled out for transgressions that many clubs have actually benefited from previously.

City didn’t directly comment on the complaint, but pointed to their public accounts as proof of transparency around club financing. It is also worth noting that Tebas had made a similar complaint about Paris St Germain back in 2022, around what he described as ‘irregular financing’.

His remarks should also be framed in the context of a struggling financial football environment in Spain, at least when compared to peers on the continent. Whilst Real Madrid will seemingly always have deep pockets through their membership structure, the financial plight of other clubs, most notably Barcelona is becoming a worry in Spain. The balance of power in Europe used to suit La Liga clubs, but the rise of new money and investment has shifted the advantage towards clubs like Chelsea, Manchester City and PSG.

Tebas has his own interests to protect, but his latest outburst is unlikely to help those that want City to be punished. Instead it increasingly looks like a case of jealousy when complaining that a system has simply started to benefit others.