Could Man City be subject of state aid probe?

FOOTBALL is accustomed to firebrand Spanish chief Javier Tebas taking shots at Paris Saint-Germain but his latest challenge to the French champions may have piqued additional interest in Premier League boardrooms.

Tebas’s LaLiga on Saturday announced it had complained to the European Commission that PSG received state funding from Qatar which distorted the European market.

PSG are not the only club Tebas has denounced, however. Abu Dhabibacked Manchester City have found themselves in his crosshairs, while Newcastle United’s ownership by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund puts them in the same bracket. So could they be next to be investigated?

WHAT IS LALIGA’S

COMPLAINT?

They claim that the Qatar-owned club’s signing of stars such as Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar has been funded by what are in effect state subsidies from the Gulf state, such as inflated sponsorship deals with other Qatari entities. PSG chiefs have consistently denied this and accused Tebas of waging a campaign against them.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH CITY AND NEWCASTLE?

The funding of English champions City, owned by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour and sponsored by the emirate’s Etihad Airways, has also been regularly decried by Tebas. Competition lawyer Alexander Rose, a partner at DWF, said UK clubs could be the sub- ject of similar complaints to the EU as PSG. Newcastle, majority owned by PIF and now sponsored by Saudi company Sela, could also attract scrutiny.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING NOW?

It is down to the introduction of the new EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which means the EC is no longer restricted to probing state aid that originates from within the EU. “This new EU law provides a legal basis for football clubs in Europe that are concerned about the state financing of rivals to complain to the EC,” said Rose. “As a result, there’s likely to be lots of complaints and the EC will need to be clear about the situations when it will and won’t intervene.”

ANY PRECEDENTS?

The EC has previously shown a willingness to tackle state aid in football, most notably when Barcelona and Real Madrid were among four Spanish clubs ordered to pay millions of euros in extra tax in 2021 after a long-running legal dispute. Indeed, that has led to claims of hypocrisy from Tebas.

SO ARE CITY LIKELY

TO FACE ACTION?

Firstly, City would be expected to robustly defend themselves, as they have against existing charges from the Premier League and previously from Uefa. Newcastle, whose spending has increased under Saudi ownership but drawn less criticism, would likely do likewise.

The bigger picture, legal sources say, is that moves such as LaLiga’s are typically designed to engineer regulatory changes. Club owners from the US and Europe in particular are thought to be keen to tighten financial regulation, and any complaints about state aid should probably be viewed in that light.

SONS following in their father’s footsteps in rugby is nothing new. Owen Farrell and his dad Andy are both in the sport. Then there are Michael Lynagh’s sons Louis and Tom. And now we have the Brackens.

Dad Kyran collected 51 caps for England between 1993 and 2003 and won the World Cup 20 years ago in Australia. His three sons – Charlie (Saracens and England U20s), Jack (Saracens and England U18s) and youngest Lachlan – all play rugby, though Jack is the only non scrum-half out of the trio.

We’ve seen Samoa’s Pisi siblings and the All Black Barrett brothers previously named in the same international 23, so why not three Bracken brothers?

ROLE MODELS

“I play rugby because I love it and I don’t think I’ll actually stop loving it,” middle child Jack, 17, tells City A.M.

“I don’t think I don’t feel the pressure, I am just doing everything I can to make myself the best player possible and if I get any opportunities then I'll make the most of them.

“I see my brother [Charlie] as a bit of a role model so to play in the same team would be pretty cool.

“I’ve also got a younger brother, he’s a few years younger than me, so if we get the whole three going that’d be pretty cool

“My dad obviously has a massive influence on me and my brothers off the pitch and I think for [him and my mum] to see us where we are now is all really exciting.”

Jack is currently on tour with England U18s in South Africa, where they beat France 41-0 last week and toppled Western Province 76-15 yesterday.

The senior men’s team have been strug-