Imagine a world where Manchester City had not used "sham contracts" to build a team capable of winning three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and three EFL Cups. If City were the winners, then there had to be losers. Not just those teams who finished runners-up or lost cup finals.
The potential impact runs much deeper and includes missed Champions League qualification, relegation and Premier League prize money. Thirty-five other teams played in the English top flight between 2009 and 2018. And every one could in some way claim to have been left financially out of pocket.
City, of course, continue to deny any wrongdoing and they have appealed. But as it stands they are guilty of all charges related to inflating their sponsorship income to the tune of £830m, plus another £90m in expenses. Strip that money out and it changes the whole complexion of the competition.
BBC Sport has crunched the numbers to assess the potential financial impact on the top flight. When Sheikh Mansour bought Manchester City in 2008 they were far removed from the club you see today. Since finishing fifth in 1991-92, the last season before the formation of the Premier League, City's highest placing had been eighth in 2004-05.
The Abu Dhabi money poured in via what the Premier League's independent commission described as a "disguised funding scheme". It took the club's sponsorship revenues from being on a par with Stoke City in 2008-09 to eventually overtaking those of Manchester United. City finished fifth in 2009-10.
Since then, not once have they finished outside the top four in the Premier League. Did this money deny other clubs a place in the competition, and other kinds of success? This article is not trying to set out how much compensation a team might be able to claim.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
