Hull City owner Acun Ilıcalı has compared potential financial wrongdoing at Man City to doping in sport, although he stressed that he isn’t in a position to judge whether the club is guilty.
Ilıcalı, whose Hull side are competing in the Premier League following promotion last season, was asked about City’s long-running financial case during an appearance on the 1904 Club podcast. His comments come after widespread reports concerning the independent commission’s findings, which City continue to dispute.
Ilıcalı makes ‘financial doping’ comparison
As reported by the Manchester Evening News, Ilıcalı began by acknowledging that he doesn’t know the details of the case.
“As an owner, I shouldn’t speak too much about it, I think, because I’m not inside it to know everything about it in detail,” he said.
The Hull owner then set out his broader view that breaches of financial rules should carry meaningful punishment.
“From my side, I will make a general speech, which is that if something involved in football is unfair, then it should be punished,” he said.
“If you give a small punishment, then everybody will do it. For the future of football, and for it to be a clean future, this kind of thing if it happens, should be punished and not let people do something like that.”
Ilıcalı then made his strongest comparison, but again framed his remarks around the possibility of City ultimately being found guilty.
“Their chairman says they are innocent. I don’t say they are guilty or not because they are saying they are innocent, and the Premier League says they are not innocent,” he said.
“If they are not innocent, I think it is no different to doping and winning an Olympic medal. This is financial doping at the end of the day. Bringing the top four or five players with huge money, breaking the rules. From that side, it doesn’t look very positive.”
City insist Premier League process remains ongoing
Ilıcalı’s comments are his own assessment of what financial rule-breaking would represent rather than evidence about City’s case.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has responded to the recent reports by telling supporters that the Premier League process still has “a long way to run”. City’s confidence and intention to prove its innocence, he said, remains as strong as when the case began.
In the club’s official response to the latest reports, City also stressed that the case has not reached the end of the road.
“The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality,” City said.
That means Ilıcalı’s “financial doping” description should be read in the conditional terms in which he delivered it. He explicitly acknowledged that he doesn’t know the evidence in detail and stopped short of reaching his own conclusion on City’s guilt.
Our analysis of the Manchester City charges looks in greater detail at the issues surrounding the case.
Rival clubs watch City case closely
Ilıcalı’s intervention is nevertheless notable because it comes from the owner of another Premier League club.
The eventual outcome has implications beyond City, with rival clubs closely following a process that has already run for years. Some have also reserved their position over potential compensation, an issue covered in our report on possible claims from rival clubs.
For now, City’s public position hasn’t changed. The club says significant elements of the process remain outstanding, while Al Mubarak has reiterated its determination to prove its innocence.
Ilıcalı isn’t claiming to know how that process should end. His argument is that if financial rules have been broken, any eventual punishment should be strong enough to deter other clubs from doing the same.
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