The depths people would go to just to win.
When the Italian Calciopoli first emerged, it was a fan newspaper, Il Romanista that first reported the scandal followed by La Gazzetta Dello Sport.
Six Italian clubs were sanctioned but Juventus – the guiltiest of the cheating lot – was relegated to Serie B and had two titles stripped away.
I was stunned by this scandal that emerged post 2006 World Cup as I was also a fan of Juventus. Sadly, this cheating that went all the way from the top club management saw my fervor for the club dip massively.
The new scandal regarding Manchester City being found guilty by the Premier League on 114 of 115 financial breaches is even worse. That investigation took some time – and quite too long in the opinion of many – for that to come out (on the game-changing The Athletic website).
The news broke during the international break (and you can be sure that this will be in the news and online chatter for some time especially when the league games resume). Can you imagine what Manchester City will face when they go to Anfield, Old Trafford, Emirates Stadium, and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to name a few.
Anfield on October 11 will serve as a preview.
Even if I do not root for Manchester City, I feel bad. Not for the team, not for management, but its employees and fans who will be affected by this, as well as the sport of football.
Is this worse than Calciopoli?
I am not sure. It most likely is. The scale of these financial cheating beggars the imagination because there is no precedent. My head hurts just thinking about it (and to think I am not a City fan).
It does make me question the Premier League. They had referees engaged in suspicious behavior from David Coote to Mike Dean. So, what is wrong with the game and the league?
Clearly, there is because this is the integrity of the game and the league we are talking about.
You wonder about the bad calls, the controversial VAR decisions, the kick-offs schedules, and I am shaking my head.
If there is justice in this world, the hearings about the appeal of Manchester City should not take that long. This has dragged on long enough.
Whatever happens – whether the club is relegated, expelled, banned from European competition, docked points, trophies stripped away, or whatnot, the hammer should be dropped. The people behind it should be made to pay or even jailed.
This is not a joke or laughing matter.
What sucks about this is that the club has a great story whether you rooted for them or not. They assembled a great team and played great football.
Conversely, the violations also meant they denied other teams from a podium finish. That means the legacies and careers or even trajectories of coaches, players, and teams were altered.
I am not naïve to think that sports appeals to our better selves. Sports, like life, is riddled with cheats and opportunists.
I still haven’t even gotten over Lance Armstrong being stripped of his Tour de France titles. Even how Major League Baseball protected those Houston Trash Cans.
There should clearly be more safeguards in place to prevent this from happening again.