It's worth reminding ourselves that the Manchester City case, which has rocked English football to its foundation, would never have seen the light of day without a spiky-haired college dropout turned self-taught hacker named Rui Pinto.
Had he not obtained and shared more than 70 million documents with the German magazine Der Spiegel starting in 2016, culminating in the publication of their massive "Football Leaks" investigation two years later, there would have been no investigation of City -- not by UEFA, not by the Premier League, not by any of the other bodies that may get involved once the current process is concluded.
Simply put, there would have been no legal basis for anyone to do this. We would have had an alternate reading of history -- one where City get new owners, Abu Dhabi United Group in 2009, spend a ton of money, watch their revenues skyrocket and dominate the game, all the while complying with every single financial regulation set before them. (The only exception was in 2014, when they breached UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations and eventually signed a three-year settlement agreement.)
Whatever the ultimate outcome of the City case -- whether it results in expulsion from the Premier League and Sheikh Mansour having to shell out hundreds of millions in fines and compensation, or somehow ends in the club getting most, if not all, of the charges overturned on appeal -- this should be a massive wake-up call to those running the game. The message: football needs better oversight and more transparency.