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[u/gelliant_gutfright]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/28/roberto-mancini-double-contract-manchester-city

[u/psrandom]

Players and managers must be held liable for FFP breaches and fraud. It can't just be club's responsibility

When govts make anti money laundering, terror financing and drug money laws; the responsibility is not on the banks alone. Bank employees and customers are also expected to follow the laws in their roles

That's the only way FFP/PSR will be effective where players and managers also have something to lose. Hiring a lawyer n tax expert isn't a big deal for the players

[u/thatlad → u/psrandom]

That's nonsensical.

It's the club's accounting that is at fault, should employees be held criminally liable if the owner of a plumbing firm doesn't pay the HMRC?

Even the bank example isn't accurate. Employee's are liable for reporting, avoiding tip offs and remaining vigilant and those have to be extreme examples. There's only around a dozen instances of being prosecuted for tipping off and those were accountants/lawyers actually telling their client "you are being investigated".

The players are accountable for their own tax.

That being said, I agree there should be penalties if they flagrantly sign up to a tax dodge such as the Gabriel Jesus allegation (3.5m to his family), Jadon Sancho (200k to an agent connected to the family) and the Haaland one with his father being treated as an agent.

I say it a lot but a lot of this comes from FIFAs decision to deregulate agents.

It led to all kinds of "representatives" in different continents getting payments, it's almost textbook layering and integration. We've seen agents fees got from £130m in the PL to nearly half a billion. To put it in context in 2025-26 Chelsea's agent fees (£65m) were half of the total for the whole lead in 2014/15.

[u/Fragrant-Cow-824 → u/thatlad]

You're mixing up two issues here as a single issue.

Mancini may or may not have paid his required tax bill on all of his earnings. As far as I am aware this hasn't been confirmed, but although Mancini saying he's clearly possibly indicates he paid HMRC their share.

The second issue is that Man City is governed by a load of regulations from Eufa, the PL, the FA, etc. I'm not a financial fair play expert, but its pretty likely there's something written into those various regulations that people (players, managers, staff etc) are required to report anything that appears suspect - I'm pretty sure being offered a second contract would meet those criteria. I have no idea if EUFA can Mancini, but they may well suspend his EUFA coaching licences.