The European Commission has confirmed that Laliga has submitted an entry to investigate Manchester City after claims that the Premier League champions were involved in a financial scandal.
Laliga President Javier Tebas set up the Bombshell claim on the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London on Thursday.
Tebas accused Man City of a financial scandal in Enron style. Enron was a notorious multi-billion pound accounting deception that broke out in the United States almost 25 years ago.
The civil servant, who has led the Spanish football competition since 2013, accused the city of artificially retaining their costs by using related companies
He added that in 2023 Liga had filed a complaint with the European Commission with regard to the financial mechanisms of the city, and claimed that they cause serious distortion on the EU internal market.
A spokesperson for the European Commission confirmed the entry of Laliga to Mail Sport.
“We can confirm the reception of the entry from Laliga,” said the spokesperson.
'The committee can investigate information about alleged foreign subsidies that distort the internal market in every economic sector, including sports.
“However, the committee cannot comment on current assessments.”
City refused to comment, although insiders strongly refuted Tebas's allegations and pointed to their accounts, which are a matter of public report, as proof of no misconduct.
Tebas had made his claims at an extraordinary press conference on Thursday.
“City has been removed from European competition for two seasons, but then they went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport – we call it a” court, “but it's not really a court,” he said.
“Manchester City was not convicted. UEFA was clear in the sanctions. In the case of the costs of the Premier League, I do not know whether Manchester City will be deducted or degraded one point or 50 points. I only know that the UEFA sanction was used to, regardless of what CAS ruled.
'Related parties must be held on the poor. It is the same in any other sector, so why not football? When City Football Group bought Girona, they sent five players on loan. We have checked the ratings. We calculated that they were 40 times higher than Manchester City claimed. We used our appreciation, and therefore there was no complaint or sanction. '
He continued: 'What worries me about Manchester City is something else. They have a group of companies outside of City Football Group. They saddle all their expenses for these companies.
'For example, they have scouting or marketing companies that build up high costs. They invoice Manchester City for low amounts. It enables Manchester City to have a structure that circumvents the rules. We have reported Manchester City to the EU.
'Although they are an English team, and are not part of the EU, they still have commercial activities in Europe. We submitted the complaint for the first time in July 2023 and there are now regulations present so that the EU can watch companies such as City Football Group.
“There are two aspects. The first is that checking Manchester City does not use other companies to cheat the system. The second element is a greater struggle to stop football that ends in the hands of state entities without the right police. Our case against Manchester City relates to two things. We have a problem with some of the prices that the club has paid. And we wonder who can lose the club on other related companies that are not directly part of the Stadsvoetbalgroep.
'You remember the case in the US, the ENron case. They losing losing to different companies. These are similar cases. It is also not only Manchester City. We reported PSG to the EU. As far as Newcastle is concerned, we haven't done anything about it yet. We don't have enough data.
'I can't talk about this yet for Manchester City. The only thing I can say is when a company in Europe has generally distorted the market, they often have to return funds. We want Manchester City to be punished. The case is currently in the investigation phase. We have not had an answer yet. Remember that the EU has many cases. '
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