An independent panel of legal experts will begin hearing both sides confidentially and at an undisclosed location. It is a critical step in a dispute that is unprecedented in sport and could have dramatic consequences for both sides.
In February 2023, City were charged over data that first surfaced in 2018, following an investigation by German publication Der Spiegel into alleged financial misconduct from 2009. The Premier League, which organises and regulates the English league, is accusing Manchester City of inflating the sums it receives from sponsorship deals.
The league also claims that payments to some players and staff, including Roberto Mancini, the manager who led the Citizens to their 2011 league title, were not fully disclosed. Finally, the case also concerns alleged breaches of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules between 2013 and 2018 and the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) between 2015 and 2018, as well as breaches of rules requiring clubs to cooperate in such investigations.
Suffice to say that the “case of the century”, as the British press has dubbed it, is more akin to a trial for financial fraud than to a traditional sports arbitration. A situation that does not fail to unleash passions, particularly given the calibre of the accused, who last summer became the first club to win four consecutive first division titles.
In the dock for six years, City has always maintained its innocence and has even welcomed the examination of this case by an independent Commission, in order to impartially study all the “irrefutable evidence” that exists to support its position.
With the process expected to last 10 to 12 weeks, the club from the north of England faces sanctions ranging from a simple reprimand to exclusion from the championship, including the loss of points, with a risk of relegation to a lower division. This wide range of possibilities opens the way to much speculation, while an appeal, more than likely at the end of the hearing, to a new commission, risks pushing back the epilogue by several more weeks. However, no appeal is allowed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
According to Sky Blues manager Pep Guardiola, “all the Premier League clubs want Man City to be punished.” A perception that may be explained by the severity with which the Premier League treated Nottingham Forest and Everton last season. Premier League clubs are allowed to make £105m of losses over a three-year period, or £35m per campaign, before being sanctioned. Clubs that break these rules face a fine or points deduction.
As a result, Forest were deducted four points for breaching the PSR, while Everton were handed a 10-point deduction in November, reduced to six points on appeal. In March, the Toffees were given a further two-point deduction for a second breach.
The leaders and fans of both clubs are therefore following the Manchester City affair scrupulously and are keen to see how what they consider to be the Goliath of the competition will be treated. For many observers, this saga represents a test for the authority and credibility of the most prolific championship in the world. In addition to dictating the fate of the current season, the outcome of this complex and thorny affair could deal a serious blow to the reputation of the defeated side.
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