UEFA could open another investigation into Manchester City with it being claimed that they over-inflated their sponsorship money to fiddle Financial Fair Play regulations between 2012 and 2016.

There has been a lot of confusion around why City received an unprecedented two-year ban when others have not faced a similar punishment. That’s because the others weren’t found to have tried to deceive UEFA when caught out.

City, on the other hand…

David Conn explained it well on a podcast this week, and while it is not a perfect analogy, it should give you an idea of why City have been hit so hard.

I’m out driving, doing 40mph in a 30pmh zone and get snapped by a speed camera. A ticket comes through my door along with three points for my licence. But I don’t want the points, perhaps it will put me over my limit and I’ll lose my licence, or maybe I need a clean licence for my job. So I get my brother to say he was driving.

Needless to say, we get caught.

For the first offence – the speeding – it was just a fine and some points.

For lying to the police about who was driving? We’re now going to prison.

It’s the same situation here. If City had just held their hands up, they wouldn’t have been banned. But they didn’t, they lied and they allegedly submitted false documents, too.

And now UEFA think they’ve done that again and face the possibility of another investigation, this time into their sponsorship deals from 2012-2016, as it becomes clear the governing body no longer feel they can trust City’s submissions on face value.

That’s what happens when you tell one lie and get caught. Nobody tends to believe much else you say. They often start to question what you might have mentioned in the past, too.