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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 7h

I wouldn’t presume anything. Surely quite possible they lift the trophy before all the appeals are sorted?

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Please mail this to Mr A. Wenger, at 2008

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Yes but there are similarities; both using off-book illicit payments to acquire talent

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Chelsea aren’t accused of bribing refs either

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Haaland getting a 116th charge for reckless driving there

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Sadly the PL probably can’t make the EFL implement this. You could deduct 65 points, see them relegated to the Champ, come back up and repeat 4 times… pretty funny

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Having looked into it a bit, I think most people don’t really know what “ethnicity” means. There are not clear genealogical dividing lines between “ethnic hours”; it’s really a fluid concept based on consensus identity.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Yet more arrogance and condescension….

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

There are a fair few who share her view it seems… i think part of the problem is there is no political authority to define Englishness yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Fine but your personal experience is not nationally representative. You won’t find any serious data to support your personal opinion here. I’d also recommend you travel to some other countries outside of the UK for comparison. How many “modern & progressive” countries really are there….?

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

If you just have to finish in the top 3, it’s not really easier… Sri Lanka probs more competent than Pakistan as third place competition. England have an appalling record vs SL in 50 overs tournaments

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

That’s not an argument, just more arrogance.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

My point is that to say “Scotland is a modern, civilised, progressive country, unlike England” is an offensive and arrogant overgeneralisation. Social attitudes in Scotland are not markedly different from England overall, and 4 in 10 Scots voted for Brexit, vs just over 5 in 10 English.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

But it’s a private investment of Mr Mansour, and the payments from the state of Abu Dhabi were nothing to do with him… right?

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Watch ep 2 of Mourinho on Netflix and the Thiago Motta red card vs Barça in 2010; absolutely scandalous

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Good for them, they should be smug (those luxuries subsidised by English tax payers)… doesn’t mean Scottish people are “progressive” though which is what the o.p. was boasting about

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

After that though, City threw all their army of lawyers at the PL implementing fair value tests on associated party transactions, which tells you all you need to know. 20 years too late and still not perfect but I think things are better controlled in the last few years.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Yes at least since 2021 in PL. And ofc, it’s absurd to claim Etihad is an arms-length FMV deal. But, by that stage, CFG could claim they are multiple title winners and offering a “unique” sponsorship package; shirt, stadium, training etc… hard to disprove beyond reasonable doubt

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Possible for sure, but also after their emails were hacked I’d imagine they would be more careful. The PL seems not to be challenging the farcical position that Mansour is completely unrelated to his own family… on this basis it’s actually fairly easy to comply.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

In reality, any of it is fine if you’re white according to her.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

And then she even said “English, Scottish and Welsh people come together to be British” 🤦🏻

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

No need to be so arrogant. The idea of Scotland being way more progressive than England is a myth. In fact (1) England doesn’t have a government so nobody has the authority to decide this anyway (2) the clear majority of people in England don’t think you have to be white to be English.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I was watching the Mourinho doc recently and, my god, the decision to send off Thiago Motta in the 2010 UCL semi was absolutely scandalous

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Huh, interesting. But the client has to pay whatever their £ rate is I assume?

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Really? Even for a non-criminal hearing?

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I regret to inform you that it could work if it were true. The panel seems to be totally confident that it was specifically Mansour’s company (ADUG) that made the payments… that’s what the case hinges on

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

seems they’re not even claiming 💰 came from sponsors, just that it didn’t come from ADUG (rather AD government). Soriano’s wording is ofc deliberate; he doesn’t say where it came from, just it wasn’t “the owner” All a legal fiction of course but it seems PL not disputing ADUG & AD are unrelated

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

As absurd as it seems it’s worrying… The PL seems to accept the fiction that an investment fund for the inherited wealth of a hereditary ruler’s brother is independent of the state in question. As this is the case, CFG can make this argument.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is highly suspicious “reporting” by Sky. The impact (beyond the reputational damage already done) of City going down is no more than Spurs going down… where was this taken panic 6 months ago? The idea that Forest or Newcastle are terrified that Phil Foden will leave the league is absurd

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This bit is true. But overall Sky’s line on this is very suspicious; they aren’t impartial

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

That statement is nonsense though. City don’t command a particularly big audience either domestically or globally.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

We have to bear in mind that Etihad is fully controlled by the AD government of which Mansour is VP & his bro is prez. Etihad mgmt could surely have been ordered to do whatever was required.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Surely once their emails had been leaked, they realised they needed to be less careless. I think it’s plausible that Mansour/ABZ told Etihad they needed to start making the payment directly from that point. In substance nothing changed, but harder to prove it was fake.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Instead of confusingly worded legal threats, they could just publish the contract, invoices and proof of payment… so easy. I wonder why they’re not 🤷🏻

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Because they might be arrogant but they’re not stupid. Once those emails had been leaked, I’m sure they’d have been more careful. Also Mansour surely had the power (potentially via his brother) to tell Etihad what to do

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Guys there is absolutely zero chance a PM would openly say they would directly intervene in a what is effectively a private members’ association’s disciplinary process. Off the record sure, but we still actually have codes of acceptable political discourse in this country!

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

💯 the only question is what can be sufficiently proven and what action the PL/ any other body is willing to take. Shockingly Chelsea got away with a slap on the wrist

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I don’t *think* so. Etihad basically means United anyway

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

He was half right 2 years ago to be a fair

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Ofc it’s absurd. But it would have been easy for Mansour to instruct Etihad to make the payment, (maybe with 💰 from the sovereign wealth fund to cover it) Then you have a paper trail and it’s hard to prove it’s not legit. The PL’s case is they don’t even bother to do that before 2018.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

It’s a very good point. Although potentially CFG/Etihad might have got their act together once they knew they’d been caught. Evidently the deal was still not at “fair market value” though

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

There’s no way that Borussia Dortmund were paid 180M and there was a conspiracy to cover it up. However his Dad was paid an absolute fortune as part of the deal; not sure how much.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

And he is *still* saying their evidence that the commercial deals were real is “irrefutable”. Surely said evidence was shared with the commission and, erm, completely refuted.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Indeed but at least there they had the excuse it was so insanely complex that nobody understood it. Here we are talking about basic checks on by far the biggest single revenue line in a medium-sized business, every year for 10+ years

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I just mean there are other cities in economically similar countries where the centre is also dodgy at night, but other areas are fine. Just guessing but maybe it’s because public transport isn’t considered safe and/or the economic disparity is so big so ppl stay near where they live.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Pretty common in “developing” countries no? Johannesburg and Bogotá are similar.

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This. An absolute embarrassment; they literally have one job

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A club’s honours list is a hugely important part of who they are

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Callum @caln19.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Borson basically made a career out of saying City’s commercial revenue was legitimate 😭

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