MCFC starts bending FFP already, Wenger shoots his mouth.

Arsène Wenger accuses Manchester City of bending Uefa fair-play rules
• Arsenal manager calls for Uefa to investigate sponsorship
• City say comments are 'unfounded and regrettable'

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David Hytner in Kuala Lumpur
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 12 July 2011 23.19 BST
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The Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, has accused Manchester City of bending Uefa fair-play rules. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images
Arsène Wenger has accused Manchester City of attempting to bend Uefa's financial fair-play rules via their new £400m sponsorship deal with Etihad Airways and he said the arrangement threatened not only the incoming legislation but the credibility of the European game's governing body.

He believes that Michel Platini, the Uefa president, is duty-bound to investigate the City deal and he ramped up the pressure on his fellow Frenchman, calling it "Platini's big test".

"It raises the real question about the credibility of the financial fair play," Wenger said. "That is what this is all about. They give us the message that they can get around it by doing what they want. It means financial fair play will not come in. It is as simple as that. I can understand how they do it but it raises the real question. The difficulty and the credibility of the financial fair play is at stake.

"Plus, if the financial fair play is to have a chance, the sponsorship has to be at the market price. It cannot be doubled, tripled or quadrupled because that means it is better that we don't do it and we leave everybody free. That can be defended as well, but if they bring the rules in they have to be respected."

The Arsenal manager had reacted with incredulity and no little scorn when he heard that City had struck the world-record 10-year deal with the company that is owned by the Abu Dhabi government and has close links to the City owner, Sheikh Mansour, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family.

The arrangement will see City's ground, which is owned by Manchester city council, renamed the Etihad Stadium. It will also provide financial backing for what will be known as the Etihad Campus, the area of land around the ground, and it will extend the company's sponsorship of the club's shirts; Etihad already pay £2.3m a year for the rights.

In contrast, Arsenal's arrangement with Emirates, which was announced in 2004, was valued at £90m over 15 years. Around £48m of that came via shirt sponsorship, with the naming rights worth £2.8m a year. "We must have done a bad deal," Wenger said, dryly.

Last night City hit back, describing Wenger's comments as "unfounded and regrettable". In a statement, the club said: "The financial details of the comprehensive agreement announced last week between Manchester City and Etihad Airways remain confidential and figures being speculated about are not accurate."

However, the elements at the heart of the agreement include, among others, the securing for 10 years of one of the Premier League's top-ranked media value shirts in 2010-11; the 10-year naming rights for the Etihad Stadium and the naming rights for the Etihad Campus which will evolve dramatically over the next decade.

"Manchester City is a proactive member of the European Clubs Association and is working actively and with transparency with regard to financial fair play. In light of these facts, recent comments about the partnership by some observers are unfounded and regrettable," the statement said.

Uefa say that they are aware of the City situation and that their experts "will make assessments of fair value of any sponsorship deals using benchmarks."

Speaking in Kuala Lumpur while on Arsenal's pre-season tour, Wenger offered the impression that he presumed Uefa would investigate whether Etihad had paid an inflated price. One condition of the Uefa regulations is that sponsors with close links to club owners pay fair sums.

"It looks to me that Platini is very strongly determined on this," Wenger said. "He is not stupid. He knows that some clubs will try to get around that and, at the moment, I believe they are studying, behind closed doors, how they can really strongly check it. That is where the financial fair play is at stake."

The new rules apply from next season, although Uefa will not begin assessing club accounts until the 2013-14 season, when they will assess them from the previous two seasons and stipulate that clubs break even, subject to an "acceptable deviation" of €45m (£40m) over the period. If clubs fail to meet the criteria, they face being barred from European competition. City's last financial figures showed a £121m loss and the next set are expected to be worse.

<Source: Guardian>