Manchester City always knew there would be a day of reckoning with the Premier League over their finances - and are already primed for a battle they believe will finally clear them from allegations of cheating.
The Etihad hierarchy were stunned to be told that they must face an independent commission to defend themselves against more than 100 charges of financial misconduct over a nine-year period.
But it was the timing of the Premier League’s announcement rather than the confirmation of the allegations that took City by surprise.
And the defiant message from the reigning champions is that the commission will give them the opportunity to rid the club of the stench of suspicion that has lingered over them in the two-and-a-half years since the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a two-year Champions League ban imposed by UEFA for alleged FFP violations.
CAS issued City with a £9 million fine for failing to cooperate with UEFA’s investigation. But the fact that some of the evidence was time-barred has been used as a stick to beat City with. The club insisted at the time that they had material to answer all of UEFA’s claims.
The Premier League investigation can include evidence that was ruled to be time-barred by CAS in July 2020 - and City feel is a chance to prove they have done things by the book.
City believe the Premier League rushed out their announcement to go after the champions to avoid criticism following the government’s decision to postpone the publication of a white paper on football governance.
No prior warning about the charges was given to the club - and City claim they have proof that some media outlets were briefed before they had even been made aware of the announcement. The Premier League deny that any media were made aware of the charges before they were published online.
City also say they were being informed of the situation by telephone when the Premier League released a statement on their website.The club’s legal team also noticed that a significant number of the charges and the regulations they breached were incorrectly notified on the original announcement and were later altered by the Premier League.
