Wenger attacks City's 'unfair' sponsorship deal
Published 00:01 13/07/11 By John Cross in Kuala Lumpur
Arsene Wenger last night claimed Manchester City's sponsorship deal has made a mockery of UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules.
City have signed a deal with Middle East airline Etihad worth a staggering £400m over 10 years, which will allow them to carry on spending big.
The deal dwarfs Arsenal's deal with airline Emirates, which nets them £90m over 15 years.
Wenger has insisted that UEFA president Michel Platini now faces his "biggest test" in the cash row.
The Arsenal manager clearly believes the figures do not add up and has rounded on City for trying to get round UEFA's new rules with a sponsorship deal which is out of step with that of every other club.
"It raises the real question about the credibility of the Financial Fair Play," said Wenger. "That is what it is all about.
"They give us the message they can get around it by doing what we want.
"It means the Financial Fair Play will not come in. It is as simple as that.
"I can understand how they do it but it raises the real question - the difficulty and the credibility of the Financial Fair Play is at stake.
"The sponsorship has to be at the market price if the Financial Fair Play is to have a chance.
"The sponsorship has to be at the market price, it cannot be doubled, tripled or quadrupled. That means it is better we don't do it and leave everybody free. That can be defended as well, but if they bring the rules in they have to be respected.
"He [Platini] is very strongly determined on that. He is not stupid, he knows that some clubs will try to get around that.
"At the moment I believe they are studying, behind closed doors, how they can really strongly check it.
"That is his big test, yes. I don't know if it is the market price."
When reminded City's agreement with Etihad is worth four or five times Arsenal's Emirates deal, Wenger laughed: "We must have done a bad deal!"
The Frenchman has accused clubs of "financial doping" in the past and has been a huge supporter of the Financial Fair Play rules, which restrict clubs on what they are able to spend in relation to turnover.
But Wenger's outspoken attack is unlikely to please City and comes just over a week after Roberto Mancini's big-spenders signed Gael Clichy for £7m from Arsenal and while they are also willing to pay the Gunners £20m for Samir Nasri.
