Billionaire-Backed Sporting Empires Face Rare Accountability
AI-generated image · US National Wire
Recent verdicts against the Los Angeles Clippers and Manchester City signal a shift in repercussions for the ultra-rich in professional sports.
The sports world is witnessing a rare instance of industrial-scale cheating being penalized across both the U.S. and Europe, according to reporting from The Guardian.
On Sept. 2, the NBA concluded an investigation revealing that the Los Angeles Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer—the world's ninth richest person—circumvented the league's salary cap. The team paid star forward Kawhi Leonard $28 million off the books via a no-show job with a purported sponsor. Following a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation by journalist Pablo Torre and his podcast, *Pablo Torre Finds Out*, the NBA docked the Clippers five first-round picks and issued a $30 million fine. Ballmer was suspended from team involvement for one year. While the Clippers initially rejected the findings as a "predetermined narrative," they eventually accepted the punishment.
Similarly, Manchester City was found guilty of more than 100 charges related to cheating Premier League financial regulations between 2009 and 2018, as well as obstructing the investigation from 2019 to 2023. The club, owned by Abu Dhabi, continues to insist on its innocence and maintain a defiant posture. The Guardian reports that the project, intended as a soft power PR play by the UAE, has been tarnished by the revelation that the club subverted the competition on a colossal scale for nearly a decade.
These cases stand in contrast to other high-profile sports figures who have avoided consequences, such as New York Knicks owner James Dolan, who faces a discrimination lawsuit involving allegations of illegal spying on fans, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, whose charges regarding a Florida massage parlor were dropped by prosecutors.