It's very damning when you read it broken down like that, and that is only one slice of the evidence available. They have basically no answer to any of the charges, none, no visible wiggle room. Which explains why they fought desperately to halt, delay and sabotage the whole process every step of the way.
As I said above, for me the important charges are failing to co-operate and not providing what they were asked to. Once that basic requirement is ignored then the trust has gone and they are guilty of cheating. The PL should not have to prove the level of cheating but it would be nice if they could. The fact that City didn't co-operate means that they have something to hide and there's no real need to go any further. The basic requirement for all clubs is to comply with what the PL ask and if they don't then they should be immediately suspended.
How can the PL trust any club that doesn't co-operate and which tries to hide evidence? It doesn't matter what level of cheating they are trying to hide; the fact is that they have deliberately not co-operated. There should be no need to "prove" the level and extent of cheating. It's simple........don't co-operate then you face an immediate ban and fine.
That would send a very clear message out to any other club who think they can hide what they are doing. If they fail to give the data that they are being asked then they will be immediately suspended and will play no further games (obviously there are other implications such as how to deal with previous results but the main aim is to prevent this scenario).
In City's case it is much more complex due to the amount of time that this has gone on for. They have basically ignored the rules and not co-operated with the PL and for this they should be relegated, fined and all titles stripped. Next, the club should be suspended until new owners are found. The league can not trust the owners any further; once trust has gone then there should be no way back for the owners.
The actual details of the cheating are not that relevant to me as you then get into the mess of trying to determine the punishment for each one. The main "crime" was failing to co-operate and once it has been established that there has been a significant amount of cheating (hence the reason for not co-operating) then the punishment needs to be severe and not based on a case by case analysis of each offence.
It's gross cheating and once that has been established then the details are irrelevant. I think City think they can defend each of the charges but the fundamental charge is not co-operating and once that has been proven then there's no real point going over each charge.
I really hope that they get the book thrown at them. They cannot be trusted and it should be curtains. No discussion over each charge and deciding what it is "worth". No coming back until the club is sold (and even then I still wouldn't trust them). They are the ones that need to explain why they failed to co-operate and once they cannot then kick them out.
