Manchester City's hearing into the 115 charges of alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial rules is now into its second week.
The private hearing is expected to rumble on for around ten weeks, with a verdict not expected until next year. The charges were first revealed in February 2023, with the alleged rule breaks, which the club deny, said to have taken place between 2009 and 2018.
The club, their fans and rivals are now all waiting for the process to play out and one former Premier League striker has questioned just how long the process is taking, accusing the competition of 'double standards'.
Louis Saha blasts 'double standards' over Manchester City charges
Former Manchester United and Everton striker Louis Saha has shared his thoughts on the ongoing case, taking umbrage with the fact that City have had a lot more time to prepare their case than other sides have in recent seasons. He cites his former side Everton, who suffered two points deductions totalling eight points last season, as being a victim of the organisations process.
"I’m not sure what the appropriate punishment will be, but the rules are the rules, and every club has to adhere to them," he told cryptocasinouk.net. "For clubs like Everton, it must be hugely frustrating to have points deducted so quickly, while City’s case has been allowed to drag on and on and on.
"They’ve been given time to organise their case, they’ve been given time to actually defend themselves, or even hide something. That's not fair on any of the other clubs in the Premier League. That’s a double-standard and you can’t allow double-standards in any walk of life.
"The Premier League also needs to take some responsibility here. They need to have a stronger process and, perhaps, maybe it would have been better for them to focus on the breaches they were certain they would win on. The paperwork for over 100 cases must be absolutely insane.
"I am baffled by the Premier League's decision-making when it comes to members who break the rules. You can't punish one club and not punish the other. That makes a mockery of the rules and the organisation. This has taken far too much time."
Saha also admitted that what happens next is anybody's guess.
"Nobody knows how the independent panel is going to deal with Manchester City’s case," he added. "If you look at it from the outside, it looks like Manchester City have been trying to get away with murder! We’re not talking about one or two infringements, mistakes that could have been made innocently, we’re talking about 115 charges.
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"That makes you think that they must have known what it was they were trying to do. There must have been a strategy at play to bend the rules to their advantage. It’s calculated, well-thought out. It has to be when there are that many charges levelled against you.
"It’s unfair. I know that the charges are from 2009, but this team that we’re seeing now was built on the success of teams that have been accused of breaking the rules."
In FourFourTwo's opinion, Saha raises some valid points. It's right that a process should exist where City, or any other club, get every chance to defend themselves, but it is consistency and the tightening of loopholes that the Premier League must ensure going forward.
