More than a year has passed since the hearing on City’s alleged charges first began.
The Premier League are considering a major overhaul of the rules pertaining to the way that clubs are penalised for breaches in financial regulations, according to a report from Sky News.
Currently, following any allegation and charge for a breach in the divisions’ PSR (Profit and Sustainability Rules), each case is immediately referred to an independent commission who then decides whether the breach has take place, before agreeing on a fair punishment.
At next month’s annual meeting between league officials and teams, each of the 20 participating clubs will be asked to vote on a proposal that would see a change to “streamline and accelerate the sanctions process.”
Under PSR, clubs cannot lose more than £105m over three years, and the likes of Everton and Nottingham Forest have been handed points deductions when it was ruled by respective commissions that they had broken these rules.
The new proposal would mean that clubs would be permitted to negotiate settlements over alleged breaches of financial rules, meaning that less cases need to go in front of an independent commission.
Per Sky News: “The rule change, if approved next month, would be implemented immediately, with the PSR regime being replaced at the start of next season.
“Last November, the Premier League announced that PSR would be scrapped, with a system known as Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) and Sustainability and Systemic Resilience (SSR) introduced in its place.”
Although Manchester City’s 115 alleged charges for breaches in Premier League regulations do not relate to PSR rules, as they pre-date them, they are by far the most high-profile case relating to a dispute between the division and one of its clubs over adherence to rules.
It is also fair to assume that this process of streamlining may have been motivated by the massive delay between Manchester City’s first charge, and a final ruling from the Premier League on the club’s own sanctions.
A reminder that more than 16 months have passed since the hearing into Manchester City’s alleged offences first began, and two years have passed since they were first charged.
For a refresher on what Man City’s 115 charges case actually relates to, read our break-down below.
What is Man City’s case all about?
In February 2023, the Premier League made a groundbreaking statement public statement in which they announced City would be investigated to a series of alleged rule breaches over a nine-year period, from 2009 to 2018.
Broken down, the charges relate to:
The case, dubbed the “Trial of the Century” finally began the following Autumn, beginning on 16th September 2024 and running until that December.
Since then there’s been nothing at all, as the panel assessing the charges have taken all of 16 months, and counting, to reach a final conclusion.
In the months since City were first charged, another Premier League side have already been handed a punishment for a similar albeit smaller offence.
In November 2023 Everton were handed down a 10-point deduction, which was then reduced to six on appeal, for a £19.5m overspend of Premier League PSR rules.
The reason as to why City’s case has taken so much longer is, at least on the surface, relatively simple: it’s much more complicated than the Everton case.
Everton were charged just the once by the Premier League, while City face 115 charges.
Everton may have disputed some of the Premier League’s claims about their accounts, but there is no suggestion whatsoever that they were deliberately dishonest.
In comparison, Man City have been explicitly charged by the Premier League with failing to provide “a true and fair view of the club’s financial position,” and of failing to “include full details” of player and manager remuneration.
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Man City could face a “40-60 points deduction”
As part of an appearance on the Overlap podcast, football finance expert Keiran Maguire gave a prediction on what a potential punishment could look like.
He said: “The Premier League cannot relegate Man City to League 1 or League 2 because that is an EFL decision and Manchester City have not had any charges proven against them by the EFL; therefore it has to be a points deduction.
“If we look at the precedence, we’ve had four and six point deductions for a single offence covering a three-year period. The accusations against Man City cover a nine year period.
“I think you have to add another zero to what we’ve seen in terms of Forest and Everton.
Beyond the sporting sanctions, the Premier League are also likely to institute broader punishments at a club level, if all 115 charges are proven, according to Maguire.
“Corporate fraud is a very serious charge. The board of directors will have to resign. If Manchester City are found guilty (although both the club and the Premier League are confident they are in the right), the management must go, and this could lead to a complete restructuring of the club.”
What has caused such a delay?
Put simply, the Man City case is unprecedented in the history of English football.
The BBC also spoke with legal expert Simon Leaf, who is the head of sport at the law firm Mishcon de Reya.
He said: “We have never seen anything like this type of case in the history of English football and arguably in world football.
“Given the scale of the allegations, the nature of the charges and the approach to handling the matter that each side has taken, most experts are not surprised that we are still waiting for a decision.”
The extent of the effort put in by Man City to defend themselves, and their denial of all charges, has also played a role in delaying the case.
This is best explained by Yasin Patel who is a barrister at Church Court Chambers.
Also speaking to BBC Sport, she said: “The team of lawyers Manchester City have assembled… call it a super team if you want.
“There’s a lot riding on it for the Premier League as well as Manchester City.”
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has added that the sheer volume of the case material being dealt with is higher than anything the league has ever seen before.
Maguire said: “We could be looking at half a million pieces of evidence, which have to be reflected upon by the three people in the commission.”
Maguire has suggested that the earliest date a verdict could be available is this October, but even that could be optimistic.
In the meantime it’s still business as usual for Man City.
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