Manchester City’s punishment should focus on changing the club’s ownership model rather than pursuing retribution, according to Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew.
Writing after the club’s guilty verdict, Liew argues there are no real precedents for a scandal of this magnitude and that raw emotions have fuelled calls for severe sanctions. However, he contends that the deeper issue is systemic: allowing state actors to control football clubs turns sporting decisions into matters of geopolitics and diplomacy.
Liew points to the coordinated response from Abu Dhabi interests—City’s board, Etihad Airways and UAE government officials—as evidence of this problem. He also criticises Andy Burnham for initially defending City’s ownership before recognising the political cost of appearing to side with “English football’s most notorious cheats”.
Rather than fixate on stripping titles and points, Liew suggests the focus should be on structural change that prevents state ownership from distorting competition. He frames the question as one of justice and ethics: how should football respond when an entire sport and generation of fans have been wronged by systematic cheating?
Sources
Written by PremClub News with the help of AI, using only facts from the reports listed on this page. How we rate stories · Editorial policy