Melbourne City tangled in financial scandal linked to parent club Manchester City
Questions are being raised with the A-League over Melbourne City’s owner City Football Club, which also owns UK team Manchester City.
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A-League ladder leader Melbourne City has become embroiled in a financial scandal linked to its parent club in England’s Premier League.
The City Football Group, which owns Manchester City and Melbourne City, has refused to answer questions about the scandal.
The Premier League this week charged Manchester City with 100 breaches of the financial fair play rules – the equivalent of the AFL’s salary cap.
It comes as a series of emails resurfaced detailing claims of attempts to conceal money being paid directly by City Football Group and naming Simon Pearce, vice chairman of Melbourne City.
The emails, originally leaked to Germany’s Der Spiegel newspaper, detail claims the City Football Group, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi government, breached financial fair play rules.
Emails to Mr Pearce, allegedly detail attempts to conceal the source of money paid to Manchester City. Sponsorship contracts were allegedly inflated conceal that millions were paid by the owner, in breach of league rules.
The Premier League charges relate to alleged breaches from 2009 to 2018. The club won the league three times in that period.
Melbourne City was embroiled in controversial transfers of Anthony Caceres and Socceroo Aaron Mooy in 2016.
Caceres was playing for the Central Coast Mariners when Manchester City approached him for a $300,000 transfer.
He was 23 – a late signing for a Premier League club – but instead of playing in England he ended up at Melbourne City on loan.
The A-League, under its previous administration, changed the rules to stop that ever happening again.
Mooy transferred from Melbourne to Manchester City on July 1, 2016 without the owners having to pay a transfer fee.
Manchester City then sold Mooy in a transfer to Huddersfield for $17m.
On its website, City Football Group confirms Mr Pearce’s position at both its Manchester and Melbourne clubs.
“Simon Pearce was appointed to the board in September 2008. He is also vice-chairman of Melbourne City FC,” the website says.
Melbourne City’s communications manager Dan Mellios did not return repeated calls on Friday. He did not respond when asked whether Melbourne City had audited its finances following the Premier League charges, the controversy around the Mooy and Caceres deals, or if the club had an unfair advantage.
Damaris Treasure, communications director at the A-League’s governing body the Australian Professional Leagues, did not respond when asked if Mr Pearce was a fit and proper person to be vice-chairman of Melbourne City.
stephen.drill@news.com.au
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