Michael Owen has said Newcastle United have "all the money in the world" but have stuck to the rules as he aimed a dig at Manchester City's cheating.
Manchester City were found guilty of 114 financial charges last month, relating to a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018. As City have appealed the findings, which were presented by an independent panel during the late September international break, football fans worldwide are now set for another lengthy wait to understand the consequences should the club be proven guilty.
Owen Highlights Unfairness to Rivals
Owen believes other teams, like his old club Newcastle, could have challenged for titles and enjoyed success if they had not respected the rules, highlighting the unfairness of City's actions. The Magpies are backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), whose sovereign wealth and assets are worth hundreds of billions, but the owners and the club have continued to act within financial regulations as they try to challenge the Premier League's wealthiest on the pitch.
Speaking exclusively to Chronicle Live as ambassador of Casino.org, Owen said: "And a lot of teams, well, every other team, it seems, have played by the rules."
"And if they didn't...I mean, you just mentioned a team like Newcastle, they had all the money in the world. So it's obviously a very, very serious thing that they've done because teams have not managed to go and challenge for the league because of these rules and regulations that they've abided by. So it's just a mess, absolute mess."
Newcastle's Financial Constraints
Valued by Forbes at a staggering £944million in 2026, Newcastle United ranks as the 19th richest club in world football, the eighth in England alone. However, the club have been historically forced to refrain from spending at leisure considering the Premier League's financial rules, including Financial Fair Play (FFP) - unable to attract some of the world's biggest stars to St James' Park as a result of being unable to compete with clubs like City in terms of lucrative transfer fees and player packages.
That hasn't stopped the Magpies from thriving in the English top flight and Europe, however, finishing in the top seven of the EPL in three of the five full seasons since the Saudi takeover. The club managed to do so by playing by the rules, whereas City stands accused of "artificially inflating" revenue streams via "sham" sponsorship deals to comply with strict regulations.
Possible Punishments for City
As for the punishment that City should face, Owen added that the Premier League could open a can of worms with regard to throwing the book at the former champions. He explained: "In terms of stripping, obviously, everything is on the table. But it will all depend on what they are found guilty of. Obviously, they've been found guilty so far, but they're challenging that. So it all depends on what they are found guilty of."
"And there are that many things to consider, whether it's stripping them of titles, whether it's deducting points for the future, whether it's transfer bans, whether it's a fine, whatever it is, there's probably seven or eight different things that you could throw at Manchester City."
"And for the authorities to go through all that and find the appropriate punishments, and then potentially what happens after that, as we've already discussed, are you then starting to take away all the stats and numbers from those times?"
"But hang on, you can't take away everybody else's stats from a certain period of time, because they did nothing, right? The whole thing is not good. It's just a mess."
"And we obviously want it all cleared up. But I think most people want it cleared up correctly, as correctly as possible, because obviously, we love our game and we love the history of our game. And it's great looking back at what players have done in the past and what teams have done in the past."
"I just hope that it doesn't ruin a lot of that, really. But then again, there has to be a deterrent. You can't break the rules so much as what they've done and only get a slap on the wrist. So it's just a s*** situation, really, that I don't envy anybody in this position."
