La Liga chief executive Javier Tebas has lodged a complaint with the European Commission, accusing Manchester City of financial misconduct.
Speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football summit, Tebas alleged that City have been manipulating their finances by offloading losses to affiliated marketing and scouting companies.
He claimed that the European Commission has taken up the case and is now investigating the matter.
“All they do is think about how they can avoid the rules and regulations,” Tebas stated (via the Mirror). “We have reported this to the European Union (EU) with facts and figures.”
Despite the UK’s departure from the EU, he argued that Man City’s commercial activities in Europe make them subject to regulatory oversight.
Tebas accused the City network of companies of artificially lowering costs by diverting expenses to external entities under the City Football Group umbrella.
“They have a scouting company, a marketing company,” Tebas added. “That’s where they have very high expenses.
“They invoice City for less money. City have costs that are less than if they didn’t have this circle of companies around.”
Tebas then drew comparisons to the Enron scandal, which involved fraudulent financial reporting and led to a historic corporate collapse in the United States. Tebas wants more transparency in football finances.
“The City case is one where we believe they have put the losses on the companies that are not officially part of City Football Group,” he said.
Tebas has been keen on financial fair play in his La Liga tenure, reining in Barcelona and forcing them to cut their cloth. He wants to see the Premier League take a similar approach.
This is not the first time Tebas has taken aim at Man City. He previously criticised the Premier League for financial doping.
The latest allegations come as City await a verdict from the Premier League over 115 charges related to financial rule breaches.
Man City denied any wrongdoing and are confident they will clear their name.
