It is an episode which illustrates the struggle there has been in extracting transparency and truth about Manchester City, whose relentless, bullying corporate machine has looked to shut down investigation and inquiry through years of deceit.
Eight years ago, I wrote a story, published by The Independent, whom I worked for at the time, about an obscure and puzzling company called Fordham Sports Image Rights, to which City had supposedly sold the club’s future image rights for £24.5million – a sum they needed to avoid breaching financial sustainability rules in the 2012-13 season.
City had made no secret of earning this figure.
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