Some fans increasingly resemble vicious rats, fighting for their own piece of turf on the deck, as the ship goes down in flames. The most recent reminder of this metaphor came when Der Spiegel published allegations that Manchester City had egregiously violated financial fair play rules.

Almost every fan on the planet can see that these allegations, if proved, would be a powerful indictment of the club. They can see that, while the rules themselves are not ideal, that is no excuse for breaking them.

They can see that the entire point of competitive sport is that the codes of conduct are agreed in advance, and that participants obey them unless and until they can convince the other participants to change them. They can see