Share
In The News
Manchester City or Scam FC - the €1bn scandal
•
Premier League football club Manchester City has been found guilty of boosting its coffers by more than €1bn by arranging “sham contracts” with big name commercial partners.
The infringements to the league’s funding rules were found by an independent commission to have taken place between 2009 and 2018 – a time when the club experienced unprecedented success. So what did the club do with the money? And did this extraordinary level of funding drive its success?
The club is owned by sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the vice president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. Since taking over the club in 2008 his funds have helped turn it into a global brand.
The scandal was first uncovered by Rui Pinto, a Portuguese computer hacker and founder of the Football Leaks website. He passed the information to Der Spiegel and the German newspaper developed the story to the point that the Premier League took Manchester City to the independent commission to adjudicate on the allegations.
It’s a scandal that has rocked football.
So what happens now? The club denies all wrongdoing and an appeals process is open to it. Other clubs are demanding a stiff penalty for City though it is unclear what that might look like.
The Guardian’s investigations correspondent David Conn explains this turbulent week in the Premier League.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.
More episodes
View all episodes
Naza: The film the Israeli Government doesn't want you to see
19:30|‘You hack her phone then you kill her – that’s what one Israeli intelligence officer told Naza director Yuval Abraham about their tactics in Gaza.The shocking and disturbing film, comprising interviews with 24 Israeli military-intelligence officers and soldiers, reveals the systems behind the mass slaughter of civilians by Israel during the continuing assault on Gaza. Made by Abraham and Rachel Szor, Naza deals in horror throughout.We learn about the tapping of civilians’ phones and the AI tools that help determine targets. “Naza” is an acronym, in Hebrew, for “collateral damage”, and the whistleblowers explain a military strategy that allows for a percentage of collateral damage when targeting Hamas terrorists: it could be 10 people in the family killed in their beds at night; or 500 people in a village being levelled.Irish Times film critic Donald Clarke talks about Naza and explores the backlash.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.Will Jim O’Callaghan back down in solicitors’ pay dispute?
24:28|The four-month dispute between criminal defence solicitors in the free legal aid system and Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan took a turn for the worse this week, with an escalation in both action and rhetoric.Solicitors have now withdrawn their services to include people held in custody and cases involving children.As the backlog in the courts grows, the Minister accused protesting solicitors of deliberately targeting rape trials. When that was indignantly denied, O’Callaghan doubled-down on his accusation.The cost to the State of the free criminal legal aid system has risen from under €50 million in 2014 to a projected €120 million last year; the new flat fee payment structure aims to keep costs in check. Solicitors say it is not enough to cover lengthy and complex cases and will reduce the number of solicitors making themselves available for the free scheme.With acrimony intensifying, the Minister has written to the Law Society asking for a meeting.But according to Irish Times political correspondent Jack Horgan-Jones it’s too early to see that as the beginning of the end to this apparently intractable row.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.One father’s fight to get help for his out-of-control teenage son
20:53|In recent months, a disturbing social media trend has emerged online in Ireland. Groups of masked teenage boys are stealing cars, taunting Gardaí, driving at high speeds and in some cases, against oncoming traffic. Recently Irish Times social affairs correspondent Kitty Holland spoke to the father of a young teenage boy, who has become part of a group stealing cars and sharing the footage online. His father is calling on the state to step in and detain his son or place him in special care, before he harms himself or anyone else.In today’s episode, Kitty explores how this case is representative of the wider crisis in the state care system.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.What led to the eruption of violence across France last weekend?
22:48|In Paris and beyond last weekend, half a million people took to the streets in protest. Those highlighting the cost-of-living crisis joined the ongoing student protest over the state of the French public education system. But the anti-Government sentiment turned violent on Saturday, with historic public buildings set alight, shops destroyed and looted, and over two thousand arrests being made. With police on streets quickly overwhelmed as events escalated, the blame game and political points scoring began in earnest.What sparked Saturday’s violence and will French President Emmanuel Macron be able to restore some order with more protests planned?Irish Times Paris-based Europe correspondent Naomi O’Leary has been following the protests closely and she joined host Aideen Finnegan to explain the backdrop to last Saturday’s eruption of violence.Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by John Casey.Has Elon Musk invented a flying car?
20:18|In Texas last week, Elon Musk told an invited audience they were about to “see some crazy stuff tonight”.It turned out to be a new version of Tesla’s Roadster sports car, this one equipped with thrusters to make the electric car fly.As the audience gasped, the Roadster sped up a steep ramp, took off, did a spin and then fell to the ground aided by air jets. There was no driver at the wheel. His SpaceX company helped develop the model.China already has several flying car models at advanced test stage. However a key difference is that they look like a cross between a large drone and a helicopter, while the Roadster looks like a car.But will his vision of a car flying over highways come to fruition, and when?Motoring journalist Neil Briscoe explains.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Aideen Finnegan.The inside story of UDA commander Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair
41:43|A man once regarded as one of the most feared loyalist paramilitary commanders of the Troubles now lives a largely quiet life in Scotland. But the legacy of Johnny Adair remains one of violence and intimidation.At the height of his power in the 1990s, Adair was blamed for dozens of killings and viewed by both the British and Irish governments as a serious threat to peace. Feared by republicans, nationalists and even rivals within loyalism, he cultivated a reputation that made him one of the most notorious figures of the conflict.Yet his influence collapsed as bitter feuds engulfed loyalism in the early 2000s, forcing him to flee Northern Ireland and begin a new life in Britain.So who was, and who is, Johnny Adair? What shaped him, and how should his role in the Troubles be understood today? On this episode, we hear from historian and author Aaron Edwards about his new book, Enemies Within: The Explosive True Story of Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair.Presented by Mark Hennessy. Produced by Andrew McNair and Declan Conlon.Ammi Burke’s seven-year battle to get her job back
19:06|Ammi Burke, a young solicitor from Castlebar, Co Mayo, was dismissed by Arthur Cox Solicitors in November 2019 and is now on her third legal challenge to her dismissal. In the Labour Court in Dublin this week, her former employers laid out its reasons for the dismissal and the events that led up to it that action. Burke rejected Arthur Cox’s assertions, and more will be heard from her when the court resumes in early 2027.She joined the prestigious firm as a trainee in 2016, qualified as a solicitor two years later and in January 2019, a key event, as detailed in the court, took place. Since her dismissal, she says she has been unable to get another job in her chosen profession and she wants her position back.Two long days in the Labour Court were not enough to finish the case, and both sides will be back before the court in January. Burke, a member of the well-known evangelical Christian Burke family, is representing herself; Peter Ward SC is representing Arthur Cox.Irish Times reporter Ronan McGreevy was in court to hear both sides, and he reports on the proceedings.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.Why Sally Rooney's books will no longer be sold in the UK
09:10|Bestselling author Sally Rooney has announced that her publisher will no longer supply her books to the UK market. Why? Books editor Martin Doyle explains.Why petrol bombs have become the weapon of choice for drug gangs in Ireland
20:25|On Tuesday morning, the country awoke to news that a house fire in Waterford had claimed the lives of four members of the same family.Within hours of the blaze, Gardaí ruled out an accidental cause and upgraded the investigation to a murder inquiry.Though the investigation is at an early stage, detectives believe the attack was related to a drug debt. It’s thought a petrol bomb was thrown at the front door of the house, in an effort to intimidate the family.In recent years, the number of petrol bomb attacks on Irish homes has risen sharply. It's been described as 'the new epidemic'. So who’s carrying out these attacks? How difficult are they to investigate and why are drug gangs turning to petrol bombs to intimidate and extort? Irish Times crime and security editor Conor Lally has the latest.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.