Despite the hearing for the 115 charges related to Manchester City’s alleged rule breaches between 2009 and 2018 starting back in September 2024, a verdict has yet to emerge. Clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham have been waiting patiently for updates on the case which would have ramifications for the entire Premier League.
The charges are broken down into 54 relating to a failure to provide accurate financial information from 2009-10 to 2017-18 and 14 relating to providing accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009-10 to 2017-18.
Five relating to Failure to comply with UEFA rules, including Financial Fair Play (FFP) 2013-14 to 2017-18. Seven relating to the breaching of Premier League’s PSR rules 2015-16 to 2017-18 and 35 relating to a failure to co-operate with Premier League investigations, December 2018 – Feb 2023.
Many point to the volume of the charges themselves when explaining why this process continues to take so much time. Depending on the outcome, once a judgment is made, both sides will have 14 days to appeal, which would then be heard by a new three-person commission with members selected by Murray Rosen KC, the chair of the Premier League’s judicial panel.
Of course, this would extend the process even further. However, the outcome of the appeal would indeed be final, and neither side could then appeal further to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
In an interview with BBC Sport on August 13, Premier League CEO Richard Masters said that despite the complexities and cost of the process, it was the principle that made it the right thing to do.
“There is no happy alternative to enforcing the rules; it goes to the integrity of the competition – it goes ultimately to value – and that principle shouldn’t be defrayed in any way by being too difficult, too complex, or too costly,” said Masters.
Manchester City have won just one of their opening three matches this season, on the opening day to Wolves. They were beaten away from home by Brighton and beaten at the Etihad Stadium by Tottenham Hotspur.
This comes after a summer in which they spent close to £200million on Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki, James Trafford, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sverre Nypan, and Marcus Bettinelli. Pep Guardiola is already under pressure after failing to win a trophy last season, being beaten in the FA Cup final by Crystal Palace.
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