- Nick de Marco KC, a sports lawyer, has expressed his belief that Manchester City should not face relegation if found guilty of serious financial breaches. The 57-year-old recently represented ex-City defender Benjamin Mendy in a successful £11million claim for unpaid wages against the club.
Mendy had taken City to a two-day employment tribunal in Manchester, alleging that they had wrongly stopped his £500,000-a-month salary after he was charged with sex offences and remanded in custody in August 2021, charges for which he was later acquitted.Despite representing Mendy against the club, De Marco, a barrister at Blackstone Chambers, has previously stated that he doesn’t believe the club should be demoted if they lose their FFP hearing, as Liverpool watch on.
Speaking to The Times in September, De Marco said: “In my view, things as important as promotion and relegation should be determined on the pitch. It spoils the game for it to be determined by people like me; lawyers, accountants and ex-lawyers, who are arbitrators, hearing legal arguments behind closed doors.
“I’m going to make my money out of it, that’s my business. But I don’t necessarily think it’s right.”
De Marco also dismissed the idea of a points deduction, a penalty previously faced by Everton and Nottingham Forest. He argued: “As a football fan, I really do think points deductions should be the very last thing people look at for breaches.”Yet it’s becoming a routine starting point and I do think that spoils a lot of the fun and entertainment of the game. I can see the argument for points deductions, because they can be the best way to redress a sporting advantage given the obvious flaws with financial penalties.
“If you are a very wealthy owner – intent on just spending anything in breach of the rules – you’re not going to worry too much about financial penalty, but I still think point deductions should be a last resort.”
The Premier League tabled the 100-plus allegations of financial wrongdoing against Manchester City in February 2023, but the private 10-week hearing did not start until September this year. Details from the ongoing hearing remain confidential as it is conducted in private.
