Yaya Toure’s former agent Dimitri Seluk denies that he received any additional payments from Manchester City and says he will happily speak to the independent commission which will decide if the reigning Premier League champions have breached more than 100 financial rules since 2009-10.
The Premier League alleged in a bombshell statement on Monday that City had broken their regulations on an unprecedented scale that could see the club banned from the competition if the commission proves the charges.
Among the charges were 12 alleged breaches of player remuneration agreements between 2010 and 2016. But Seluk, who no longer represents Toure, has emerged to say that there was nothing untoward between his and the former midfielder’s dealings with the club.
Toure played for City between 2010 and 2018. He won three league titles and is now a coach at Tottenham Hotspur’s academy.
“No, everything was transparent, there was nothing on the back side,” Seluk told the Guardian. “I am interested to see what happens as this was a surprise. Yaya paid everything – tax and everything. It was all transparent.”
Then asked if he will assist the commission with their inquiries, Seluk added: “Of course. I would tell them the same.”
The barrister Murray Rosen, head of the Premier League’s judiciary panel, will select a three-person commission to examine City’s case. No timeframe has been set and considering the number of charges, which City vehemently deny, it is expected to take a significant amount of time.
But, as the lawyer Stephen Taylor Heath of the JMW firm told Mirror Football, the commission will not work like a typical court case.
“The procedures are clearly set out in section W of the Premier League ’s handbook,” he says. “It explains how the panel will decide, setting out how it will be dealt with.
"It will set out the charges, give parties the opportunity to provide submissions in relation to the charges and it may call for an oral hearing, it may ask for further information or ask certain people to attend a hearing.”
City will also not be able to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if the charges are proven - because the Premier League rules will preclude them. “It won’t end up in CAS like the UEFA proceedings unless City basically say they’re not engaging in this process and if the Premier League does anything we’ll take them there,” Taylor Heath added.
“That would then see CAS decide if they have the jurisdiction to adhere to such a complaint. There’s no path in the Premier League rules that lead there.”
