As Manchester City players walked on to the pitch on Sunday to play their first match since the club was found guilty by an independent commission of 114 charges out of 115 brought against the club by the Premier League, they were met by rival fans waving “Cheats” banners.
After the club was bought in 2008 by Sheikh Mansour, a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family and currently vice president of the United Arab Emirates, City went on a spending spree, purchasing expensive players from around the world before winning the Premier League in 2012. If the club had been abiding by the league’s spending rules, it never would have been able to spend so freely. The club has rejected the commission’s verdict and has lodged an appeal. But this is not just a story about cheating in sport. It is a story that reveals the venality of our own government and the limits of our own democracy.