Manchester City’s 115 charges are finally being investigated and we have looked into how much the case will cost overall?
The footballing world has been waiting for Manchester City’s 115 breaches of Financial Fair Play to be dealt with since they were first charged in February 2023.
Rumours over their punishment have been circulating for several months, varying from a huge points deduction to instant relegation from the Premier League.
However, the procedure that will lead to the clubs’ eventual punishment is intricate and could cost the Premier League a huge amount of money.
Who Are The Lawyers For Manchester City and The Premier League?
Manchester City have recently been involved in a court case against the Premier League, over the legality of the Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules.
This was separate to the 115 charges, but revealed City’s legal team as the club were represented by Freshfields and a counsel team that included Lord Pannick KC.
In February, the current champions went against the Premier League over the APT rules by claiming that these rules were illegal and anti competitive.
Although this was not a part of the 115 charge case, reports indicate that if the outcome was on City’s side then it could help their defence when it comes to the primary charges.
Legal Team For Manchester City
- Lord Pannick KC (Blackstone Chambers)
- Paul Harris KC (Monckton Chambers)
- Rob Williams KC (Monckton Chambers)
- David Gregory (Monckton Chambers)
- Deba Das (Freshfields partners)
- Rhodri Thomas (Freshfields partners)
Legal Team For The Premier League
- Andrew Hunter KC (Blackstone Chambers)
- Jason Pobjoy (Blackstone Chambers)
- Marie Demetriou KC (Brick Court)
- Daniel Piccinin KC (Brick Court)
- Max Schaefer (Brick Court)
- Tom Pascoe (Brick Court)
- Alastair Richardson (Brick Court)
- Richard Swallow (Slaughter and May)
- Smriti Sriram (Slaughter and May)
- Mark Zerdin (Slaughter and May)
How Much Will The Lawyers In Manchester City’s 115 Charge Case Be Paid?
It is well-known that working as a lawyer is one of the most lucrative jobs and that is no different for the legal teams that are working on this case.
According to the highly-regarded football finance expert, Kieran Maguire, a sports lawyer that had been working on the case since week one will earn around £3.2 million over the 10 weeks.
This is the equivalent to £10,000 an hour, if the individual was working on the case full-time and for the entire duration so far.
How Much Will The Manchester City’s 115 Charge Case Cost Teams In The Premier League?
The Premier League will have to make a statement with their punishment if City are found guilty, but the overall procedure could cost the league millions.
Another to Manchester City’s former financial adviser, Stefan Borson, the legal process could cost up to £60m which will be taken from the 20 Premier League sides.
He said: “There is a central pot of money, which is then distributed to the clubs, so the Premier League is spending the individual clubs’ money in prosecuting these cases.
“There is no real way around that. If it’s spending £40-50million in the last year, which is what the reports say, then that is the top slice of the clubs’ money.
“Each club will have to take a deduction of proceeds for this year from the Premier League to effectively cover these increased expenses in the way that you would do in any kind of service charge in a flat.
“Everybody has to chip in their own bit, that’s just the way it works. Even £50million across the clubs is not that significant. It’s not that much money and isn’t that big of a deal from a financial perspective.
“It’s not ideal, but it’s not going to change materially the system. The Premier League has no choice. What is it meant to do?
“It has to regulate the clubs and that costs money. Lawyers are expensive.”
What Punishments Could Manchester City Face From 115 Charges?
If Manchester City are found guilty then they could be dealt one of the biggest punishments in footballing history – due to the severity of this case.
The punishments could be:
- 50+ points deduction
- Lengthy transfer ban
- Relegation from the Premier League (possibly down to League Two)
- Biggest fine in history
However, there would obviously be a huge appeal if City are found guilty and this process could take several years before it is completely settled.
UK betting sites have compiled odds for what Manchester City’s punishment could be and the favourite option is for the Premier League champions to receive a fine.
