On September 28, The Sun published an article reviewing Manchester City's defeat to Wigan Athletic in the 2013 FA Cup final, linking it to Manchester City's current Premier League financial rule breach case.

The Sun recently published an article reviewing the match between Manchester City and Wigan Athletic in the 2013 FA Cup final, linking Ben Watson's last-minute winning goal to Manchester City's ongoing Premier League financial rule breach case.

For many Manchester City fans, Wembley Stadium on May 18, 2013 is undoubtedly an unforgettable memory. At that time, Manchester City had a strong squad and had just won the Premier League title the previous year. However, in the FA Cup final, they unexpectedly lost 0-1 to Wigan Athletic.

The match remained goalless until the final stages. In the 90th minute, Wigan Athletic won a corner kick. Ben Watson met the ball in the box and headed it into Manchester City's net. After the ball went in, Wigan's players and coaching staff celebrated wildly, while Manchester City had to accept defeat in the final.

Even more remarkably, Wigan Athletic was near the Premier League relegation zone at the time and ultimately could not escape relegation. As a result, this match became one of the most dramatic FA Cup finals in history.

For Manchester City, the impact of this defeat went far beyond losing an FA Cup trophy.

The team's manager, Roberto Mancini, had already brought Manchester City significant achievements, including the Premier League title, but before the FA Cup final defeat, rumors had already begun circulating that Manuel Pellegrini could replace him. Mancini was deeply upset by the reports, and after losing the final, he ultimately could not hold onto his position.

Just days later, Manchester City officially announced Mancini's departure. Subsequently, Pellegrini, from Chile, took over as manager and later led Manchester City to win the Premier League title again.

However, according to The Sun, Mancini's departure, beyond competitive issues, also created a financial problem.

At that time, Manchester City was compiling its financial report for the 2012-13 season. The report stated that the club's chief financial officer, Jorge Chumillas, needed to handle costs associated with Mancini's departure.

According to The Sun, citing emails previously disclosed by German magazine Der Spiegel, the cost of sacking Mancini for Manchester City was approximately £9.9 million. For Manchester City, which was facing UEFA's Financial Fair Play requirements at the time, this expenditure could create a significant financial deficit.

The issue was that if Manchester City had won the 2013 FA Cup, the club would have received a championship bonus from its sponsors. But Ben Watson's header in the final moments at Wembley changed everything.

Wigan Athletic ultimately won the cup, and Manchester City not only lost the trophy but also the potential sponsorship bonus.

According to The Sun, Manchester City's then-chief executive Ferran Soriano had suggested that if they could secure the sponsorship bonus related to winning the FA Cup, the club could use these funds to cover the financial deficit caused by Mancini's departure.

But as Manchester City ultimately lost the match, this bonus naturally did not materialize.

Subsequently, according to relevant emails previously published by Der Spiegel, Manchester City began internally discussing how to address this financial gap. The club allegedly considered resolving the issue by adjusting payment arrangements for some sponsorship funds.

The sponsors involved included Etihad Airways and Aabar Investments.

The Sun reported that Chumillas had asked whether the payment dates of the relevant sponsorship funds could be adjusted to resolve the financial arrangements at that time.

Simon Pearce, a long-serving Manchester City board member, allegedly gave a rather controversial response in an email: "Of course, we can do what we want."

This statement later became a focal point in related reporting.

It should be noted that the above content primarily comes from documents previously exposed by Der Spiegel and reports from The Sun. Their specific meaning and legal validity must be considered alongside the full body of evidence in the case and relevant rulings.

In 2018, Der Spiegel published a batch of internal documents and emails related to Manchester City, which subsequently led to increased scrutiny of Manchester City's financial issues by UEFA and the Premier League.

Some of these emails involved topics such as the club's sponsorship income, player and manager salaries, and financial reports.

In 2020, UEFA found that Manchester City had seriously breached Financial Fair Play rules and imposed a two-year ban from European competitions, along with a fine.

Manchester City subsequently appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Ultimately, CAS overturned UEFA's earlier ban from European competitions, but it also addressed Manchester City's cooperation issues in the relevant investigation and imposed a fine on the club.

Subsequently, the Premier League's investigation into Manchester City continued.

Now, with new developments in Manchester City's Premier League financial rule breach case, the 2013 FA Cup final has been mentioned again by the media.

According to previous reports, the Premier League had brought 115 charges against Manchester City for alleged breaches of the league's financial rules, covering primarily the period from 2009 to 2018. The charges relate to whether Manchester City provided accurate financial information, whether it fully disclosed the compensation of certain players and managers, and whether it complied with relevant Premier League financial rules, among other aspects.

And according to information cited in The Sun's report, it has been found that Manchester City committed the vast majority of the alleged relevant breaches.

This has also brought renewed attention to the series of internal emails following the 2013 FA Cup final.

From a chronological perspective, there is a certain connection between Ben Watson's goal, Mancini's departure, and the subsequent financial arrangements. Manchester City had hoped to receive a bonus related to winning the FA Cup, but Wigan Athletic's last-minute goal changed the match result and caused Manchester City to lose this potential income.

At the same time, Mancini's departure generated related costs of approximately £9.9 million. In this context, the club allegedly began internally discussing how to address the financial deficit and other issues such as the timing of sponsorship payments.

Therefore, in the context of the current Premier League case, that 2013 match takes on another layer of significance for Manchester City.

However, it must be emphasized that the 2013 FA Cup final itself does not imply any rule violations. Wigan Athletic defeating Manchester City with Ben Watson's header was a normal football match. The real focus is on the alleged internal discussions within Manchester City regarding financial reporting and sponsorship funds that supposedly took place after the match result.

Ben Watson's header that year thus transformed from a goal that decided the FA Cup winner into a frequently revisited timestamp in reports about Manchester City's financial controversies in recent years.

For Manchester City, the reason this story is receiving attention again 13 years later is that some of the charges in the club's current Premier League case cover precisely the period around 2013.

Currently, Manchester City continues to deny the allegations and is expected to continue its defense through legal proceedings. Therefore, at this stage, the final sanctions for the case and subsequent legal processes may still undergo further changes.

And for Manchester City, whether that defeat back then was simply an ordinary FA Cup final loss or had a deeper impact on the club's subsequent financial arrangements will ultimately be judged alongside the complete evidence, rulings, and subsequent legal proceedings of the relevant case.

Traducido por IA.

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