Simon Jordan has called for the Premier League to be disbanded and reconstructed with fresh regulations, following the guilty verdict handed down to Manchester City. The club have been found guilty on 114 charges of violating Premier League financial regulations.
In a bombshell statement, it emerged that an independent commission determined City had artificially inflated their revenue by approximately £900million through 'sham' sponsorship agreements. City strenuously deny the allegations and have lodged an appeal against the decision.
Potential sanctions and debate
Should the appeal prove unsuccessful, City are expected to face sanctions that could include points deductions, financial penalties or potentially expulsion from the Premier League. Considerable debate has ensued regarding appropriate punishments should the verdict stand.
Jordan, who owned Crystal Palace for nearly a decade during the 2000s, has argued the situation has exposed how existing regulations are no longer fit for purpose. The Premier League introduced the Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) and Sustainability and Systemic Resilience (SSR) rules to supersede the Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) during the summer. The SCR restricts clubs' on-pitch expenditure to 85 per cent of their football-related income, though clubs receive additional flexibility.
Jordan's call for reform
Speaking on talkSPORT, Jordan stated: "My overriding argument is, you have made this league so fabulously successful, you've made it the most investable league in the world, you've made that success off the back of that, and you've turned the tap off.
"And you've turned it off, for what reason? Because there's this mythical idea that everyone is going to go bust unless you control it. Now, if you want to control things, you can do redistributions.
"Really, the only way to evolve this game is to disband the Premier League, recreate it with a whole new set of rules that are fit for purpose rather than tacking on rules that have existed for 125 years and keep trying to finesse them to meet ownership models that are so much more sophisticated now."
Title stripping question
Another potential sanction could see City retrospectively stripped of titles secured between 2009 and 2018, the timeframe covered by the charges. When questioned whether City ought to forfeit their titles, Jordan responded: "Just out of curiosity, what does that achieve? They've been slaughtered.
"Do you think the idea that Abu Dhabi's sole focus in life to own an English, beautiful, shiny football club that's now been built into a wonderful machine in the City Football Group, has now been diminished and damaged beyond all reparations?
"And you look at it and say Abu Dhabi are going to come away from this with any currency, even if they buy the Premier League out and turn around and say, 'We'll give you £1billion in compensation and every club can have a double dip of £50m each'.
"They're never going to get out from underneath. I don't think it's pointless. I just don't know what it achieves. It's about what we do now going forward."
