Fans speak of Champions League title win by Manchester City

 

BERLIN – Fans across Europe believe that there would be a “turning point” in football if Manchester City take the Champions League title on Saturday against Inter Milan.

Fans across Europe believe that there would be a “turning point” in football if Manchester City take the Champions League title on Saturday against Inter Milan.

“Many football fans would certainly be critical of Manchester City winning the Champions League,” Martin Endemann, spokesman for the Football Supporters Europe, told dpa.

On the one hand, this has to do with “several investigations (on City) into alleged breaches of financial regulations,” Endemann explained.

“On the other hand, many fans are critical of clubs that are de facto owned by states with dubious human rights records,” he added. Therefore, “it would be something of a turning point if one of these clubs were to win the Champions League title this time after several unsuccessful attempts.”

City majority owners are the Abu Dhabi United Group, a private equity firm based in the United Arab Emirates. The country is widely criticized for its human right conditions, among other things.

Since the group came on board in 2008, the former mid-table club has spent an estimated €2 billion ($2.14 billion) on transfers and have been highly successful nationally – but Champions League glory is still missing.

For the German fan association Unsere Kurve, it would be “a victory dishonestly bought by financial doping,” representative Dario Minden told dpa.

“Man City symbolizes the sell-out of football and the powerlessness of the sport to protect its socio-cultural values,” he said.

City are currently being investigated by an independent commission over more than 100 alleged cases of violation of the Premier League financial rules.

In 2020, European ruling body UEFA handed City a two-year ban from European competitions for “serious breaches” of financial fair play rules, but the decision was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.