Manchester City facing serious Premier League charges has set the stage for a major test that could reverberate through Sky Sports as well.
Sky insiders have reportedly instructed their pundits to stick to the facts and avoid jumping to conclusions when the verdict is announced. According to the Daily Mail, this careful strategy aims to ease any potential backlash while teams like Liverpool and Everton anticipate the ruling’s implications.
The club from Manchester has declared it possess a comprehensive and incontrovertible amount of evidence in its defence and strongly refutes any wrongdoing claims. Yet a guilty finding would not only cast a shadow over City, but also pose challenging questions for the Premier League and its associates, among which Sky stands as a particularly long-term collaborator.
While discussing the issue on talkSPORT, former City financial consultant and sport finance specialist Stefan Borson addressed the broadcaster’s dilemma: “The problem that Sky have got, of course, is if it goes against City in a significant way, then the big question – and this is not just a question for the Premier League, but also a question for Sky – is what do we make of the last decade of Premier League football?
“That will be a big issue for Sky, and that’s why I think they will be even more concerned about the way this is presented compared to some other outlets. They have a big stake in this game; that’s why this is a very dangerous case for both the Premier League and its partners because if it goes against City, then clearly there are big question marks over all of the ownership since 2009.”
Simon Jordan, the talkSPORT pundit, offered a contrasting view: “I would suggest it’s more to do with the fact that if it doesn’t go against City, that the conspiracy theorists among anyone that’s on their channel might want to be careful of what Man City will then do afterwards after they’ve been exonerated after they’ve been vindicated and all the things that they’ll claim as a result of it if in fact none of these charges are upheld.”
