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• Alphansus Davis, Cedric Titus complete field for DaCosta Cup Round of 32

  Alphansus Davis High and Cedric Titus High both confirmed their spots in the Round of 32 of the ISSA/Wata DaCosta Cup as the first round of competition ended on Monday.

  Alphansus Davis High made it past the first round for the first time since 2018 when they were still named Spalding High after they held on for a 2-2 draw against Bellefield High, completing their Zone G playoff game that had started last week. They finished with 16 points in the first round.

  At the same time, Cedric Titus High took the lone ‘wild card’ spot available to the best third-place team.

  They joined the 30 schools that had already booked their places up to Saturday for the Round of 32, which is set to get underway on Tuesday with one game, Port Antonio High against Dinthill Technical at Carder Park.

  Christiana High won Zone G with 28 points, and Holmwood Technical won second with 22 points.

  For their efforts, Alphansus Davis will play in Group 4 of the Round of 32 alongside Munro College, Maldon High, and Brown’s Town High,

  Cedric Titus High was third in Zone D, behind Spot Valley High and William Knibb, and edged out Green Pond High for the best third-place team on goal difference after both had accumulated 19 points from 10 games.

  Cedric Titus had a goal difference of 27 to Green Pond High’s five.

  Also on Monday, Central High topped the Zone H table after playing out a 0-0 draw with defending champions Clarendon College.

  Central finished with 20 points and will play in Group 6 in the second round while Clarendon College took second place with 19 points, edging Denbigh High, who beat Lennon High 4-1, on goal difference.

  Clarendon College will play in Group 7, where they will meet Glenmuir High in a repeat of last season’s final, Paul Bogle High, and Titchfield High.

  Denbigh High will contest Group 5 along with Belair High, Happy Grove High and Holmwood Technical.

  Frome Technical topped Zone B with 26 points after a 4-0 win over Green Island thanks to a second consecutive hat trick from Stevaughn Spence.

  The other goal came from Dwyane Watt for Frome Technical who will now take on Ocho Rios High, Black River High, and Cedric Titus in Group 2.

  Rusea’s High took the runner-up spot after beating Knockalva Technical 5-1 in Lucea, with Michael Foga scoring a hat trick, and will play out of Group 1 against Cornwall College, Spot Valley High, and Kemps Hill High.

   

   

• Man City could face 'serious' punishment, says expert Maguire

  Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes if Manchester City are found guilty of breaching the Premier League's financial rules, that it should be reflected in their punishment.

  The independent hearing, which started last month, is anticipated to last approximately two months, although the verdict is not expected to be made public until early next year.

  If found guilty, the sternest punishment is relegation, while points deductions and fines are also potential penalties.

  City have been charged with breaking financial fair play (FFP) rules, with the breaches allegedly going back over a decade.

  The Citizens were charged with 54 counts of failing to provide accurate financial information from 2009-10 until 2017-18, while also failing to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009-10 to 2017-18 on 14 separate occasions.

  City have been handed five charges related to their inability to comply with UEFA's rules, including FFP from 2013-14 to 2017-18, with another seven charges for breaching the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability (PSR) rules from 2015-16 until 2017-18.

  The final 35 charges are for failing to cooperate with Premier League investigations from December 2018 until February 2023.

  City did, however, claim a victory in their recent legal challenge against the Premier League over Associated Party Transaction rules, though that is totally separate to the 115 charges. 

  Both Everton and Nottingham Forest were deducted points last season for breaches of the Premier League's financial rules. 

  However, Maguire believes that should City be found guilty on all 115 of their charges, then a possible points deduction should be fair in comparison to what was handed to both Everton and Forest. 

  "I think the reason why I say that, and again, I've got no inside knowledge of any of this, is that if we take a look at the commission hearings in relation to Nottingham Forest and Everton, one of the revealing things was that one of the commissions had said, I think this was in the case of Forest, ultimately, this is a minor breach of the rules, and this has resulted in what was a four-point deduction," Maguire told Stats Perform.

  "As far as Nottingham Forest are concerned, given that that was a minor breach of the rules which covered a narrow period of time and a very specific, narrow set of circumstances, what Manchester City are being accused of is effectively corporate fraud over a nine-year period – they've been lying to the Premier League in relation to their finances.

  "Well, that's far more serious than a technical breach of an overspend. So, if it's a four-point deduction for a minor breach, and all 115 charges are upheld, then surely that's a major breach, and that has to be reflected in the deduction."

  Since the Abu Dhabi United Group's takeover in 2008, City have spent approximately €2,5987 billion (£2,1649bn), spending the most money in the 2017-18 season (£245.7m) with the most notable signings including Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, and Ederson.

  City's most expensive player during that time was Jack Grealish, who arrived from Aston Villa in a £100m deal - which at the time constituted the most expensive transfer of an English player ever. 

  Maguire went on to say that should City only be found guilty of failing to cooperate with the Premier League, then a financial sanction seems more likely, as opposed to a points deduction or relegation.

  "My one reservation on all of this is that if the only thing that Manchester City are found guilty of is not cooperating with the Premier League, then probably the appropriate punishment is a financial one because they've not had a sporting advantage," Maguire concluded.

  "You can argue that bringing in more, artificially inflating the money coming in, and messing around with the wages, has allowed Manchester City to recruit these other players, and on the back of that, they've been successful on the pitch.

  "So, we need an on-field punishment if it's just for non-cooperation with the Premier League, and given that the Premier League hasn't cooperated with Manchester City in terms of getting these deals through against this separate hearing, I don't think that a points deduction is appropriate."

• Man City's 'lies' could result in 'serious' punishment, says expert Maguire

  Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes if Manchester City are found guilty on all counts of their 115 charges, that it should be reflected in their punishment.

  The independent hearing, which started last month, is anticipated to last approximately two months, although the verdict is not expected to be made public until early next year.

  If found guilty, the sternest punishment is relegation, while points deductions and fines are also potential penalties.

  City have been charged with breaking financial fair play (FFP) rules, which started in 2009 following the Abu Dhabi United Group takeover and went on until 2018.

  The Citizens were charged with 54 counts of failing to provide accurate financial information from 2009-10 until 2017-18, while also failing to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009-10 to 2017-18 on 14 separate occasions.

  City have been handed five charges related to their inability to comply with UEFA's rules, including FFP from 2013-14 to 2017-18, with another seven charges for breaching the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability (PSR) rules from 2015-16 until 2017-18.

  The final 35 charges are for failing to cooperate with Premier League investigations from December 2018 until February 2023.

  City did, however, win their recent legal challenge against the Premier League over Associated Party Transaction rules, though that is totally separate to the 115 charges. 

  Both Everton and Nottingham Forest were deducted points last season for breaches of the Premier League's financial rules. 

  The Toffees were deducted 10 points, reduced to six for the three-year period from 2021-22 for losses of £19.5million over the £105m permitted threshold. 

  Meanwhile, Forest, who were initially docked six points, saw theirs brought down to four after breaching the permitted £61m threshold by £34.5m for the three-year period from 2022-23. Both clubs retained Premier League status last term despite this.

  However, Maguire believes that should City be found guilty on all 115 of their charges, then a possible points deduction should be reflected on what was handed to both Everton and Forest. 

  "I think the reason why I say that, and again, I've got no inside knowledge of any of this, is that if we take a look at the commission hearings in relation to Nottingham Forest and Everton, one of the revealing things was that one of the commissions had said, I think this was in the case of Forest, ultimately, this is a minor breach of the rules, and this has resulted in what was a four-point deduction," Maguire told Stats Perform.

  "As far as Nottingham Forest are concerned, given that that was a minor breach of the rules which covered a narrow period of time and a very specific, narrow set of circumstances, what Manchester City are being accused of is effectively corporate fraud over a nine-year period – they've been lying to the Premier League in relation to their finances.

  "Well, that's far more serious than a technical breach of an overspend. So, if it's a four-point deduction for a minor breach, and all 115 charges are upheld, then surely that's a major breach, and that has to be reflected in the deduction."

  Since the Abu Dhabi United Group's takeover in 2008, City have spent approximately €2,5987 billion (£2,1649bn), spending the most money in the 2017-18 season (£245.7m) with the most notable signings including Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, and Ederson.

  City's most expensive player during that time was Jack Grealish, who arrived from Aston Villa in a £100m deal - which at the time constituted the most expensive transfer of an English player ever. 

  Maguire went on to say that should City only be found guilty of failing to cooperate with the Premier League, then a financial sanction seems more likely, as opposed to a points deduction or relegation.

  "My one reservation on all of this is that if the only thing that Manchester City are found guilty of is not cooperating with the Premier League, then probably the appropriate punishment is a financial one because they've not had a sporting advantage," Maguire concluded.

  "You can argue that bringing in more, artificially inflating the money coming in, and messing around with the wages, has allowed Manchester City to recruit these other players, and on the back of that, they've been successful on the pitch.

  "So, we need an on-field punishment if it's just for non-cooperation with the Premier League, and given that the Premier League hasn't cooperated with Manchester City in terms of getting these deals through against this separate hearing, I don't think that a points deduction is appropriate."