There is a joke doing the rounds among legal experts about the amount of times they have been put on stand-by for a decision in the Manchester City “115 charges” case. Meals have been cancelled, night outs postponed and work diaries cleared in anticipation of being called to comment on the case. The only punishment doled out so far, they note, is to their social lives.
Finally, though, it appears as if their expertise might be about to pay dividends. Whispers of a resolution to the case are nothing new but one source with insider knowledge of how arbitration cases work has toldThe i Paperthat experts are braced for a decision to drop in mid-November – possibly in a week that coincides with the next international break. That tallies with conversations with several figures at Premier League clubs who believe that the uncertainty will surely not extend into 2026.
“Everyone just wants a verdict now and some certainty over what comes next,” one source toldThe i Paper– pointing out that some important votes on the future of financial fair play due at the end of November might yet be “totally overshadowed” by what happens with the City case. There’s a feeling in some boardrooms that the start of the season represented the “quiet before the storm” for Premier League clubs, with the risk of legal warfare following a possible guilty verdict as rivals launch compensation cases and even the prospect of an asterisk being applied to the league table if City appeal any points deduction. “It’s gone very quiet and because it’s been going on for so long it’s almost been forgotten about but all hell could break loose when it lands,” a source says.
Read Full Article on ZIFM Stereo
[paywall]
It doesn’t help that things have gone dark since February 2023, when the league first confirmed the charges. The Premier League have been consistent throughout that confidentiality surrounding the case means they can say nothing. CEO Richard Masters has artfully flat-batted any enquiries in interviews.
But that has not stopped speculation around what comes next. The well-connected Stefan Borson, who is a former City advisor and a legal expert, claims that as of the end of the recent international break the verdict had not dropped in the inbox of either the Premier League or the club. But he’s adamant that we will know before the end of the year. The hearing began in mid-September 2024 and ran until early December, lasting an estimated 12 weeks.The i Paperhas been told that there were more than 250,000 documents considered in the complex case, which saw City charged with 130 alleged breaches of financial fair play rules from 2009 until 2023.
[/paywall]
