Sky Sports News understands an independent commission is set to rule on the 115 charges facing Manchester City in mid-September; it is expected the formal hearing will go on for around 10 weeks but a decision is unlikely to be made public before the spring of 2025
Thursday 15 August 2024 08:57, UK
A decision from an independent commission over Manchester City's 115 charges is unlikely to be made public before the spring.
City's hearing into the 115 charges, which the Premier League is keen to see resolved as quickly as possible, has been brought forward to mid-September after it was originally expected to start in November.
Schedules, however, could slip as it is a legal process, independent of influence by the Premier League or by City.
It is expected that the formal hearing with the independent commission will go on for around 10 weeks, with both the Premier League and City to make lengthy legal representations, outlining their case.
The independent commission will then go away and consider all the evidence, and consider their decision. That process is expected to take several months because of the volume of charges and the amount of information to be reviewed.
Therefore, it could be March - or later - before a decision by the commission is made public. As soon as they have reached their conclusion, it will be published.
Even then, if the commission decide City are guilty of some, or all of the charges against them, the club would likely appeal that decision, which would further delay the imposition of any sanctions or points deductions.
The end of the process could be later in 2025, but it is hoped on all sides that the matter will finally be concluded in the next calendar year.
Meanwhile, a source has told Sky Sports News that City's separate legal dispute with the Premier League has no bearing on the 115 charges.
The two cases are described as procedurally separate.
The June arbitration was brought by the club against the Premier League's associated party transaction rules.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters accepts the legal cases facing the Premier League champions and others create "uncertainty and frustration" heading into the new season, but said: "There is no happy alternative to enforcing the rules."
There are also cases outstanding involving Leicester and Everton related to alleged breaches of the league's profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), while the league is also understood to be investigating Chelsea over possible rule breaches that took place under their former owner Roman Abramovich.
Asked about the significance of all these matters and whether they were a big issue for the league, Masters told Sky Sports News: "It does matter, and I understand it creates uncertainty and some frustration but there is no happy alternative to enforcing the rules, which everyone has agreed at the beginning of each season.
"They have looked each other in the eye and shaken each other's hand and said 'we will abide by these rules'. So the Premier League has to enforce rules.
"Whatever difficulty or frustration that creates is part of maintaining and protecting the Premier League's competition, its core values, competitive competition. And that's really my role, and that's what I want to continue doing."
City have won two league titles since the charges, which they vehemently deny, were laid in February last year.
"I think it does need to be resolved," Masters said, as he again refused to be drawn on any timescales related to that case.
"It's not in our hands. It's in the hands of an independent panel. They are in charge of the timing and the running of the process, and we must let them get on with it."
City's alleged breaches relate to rules requiring the reporting of accurate financial information, the submission of details of manager and player pay information within the relevant contracts, a club's responsibility as a Premier League member to adhere to UEFA's financial regulations and to the league's own profitability and sustainability regulations.
The club are also alleged to have breached rules requiring them to co-operate and assist with the Premier League's investigation into those breaches, which the league said began in December 2018.
Everton and Nottingham Forest were docked points for PSR breaches last season, and those rules remain in force for the campaign ahead, requiring clubs to limit losses to a maximum of £105m over three seasons.
Masters said the League would continue to enforce the PSR "fairly and proportionately".
"I can't speculate on [whether there will be charges related to the 2023-24 PSR assessment period].
"You can only really adjudicate on it when you have audited accounts and that process doesn't start until towards the end of the year."
