Manchester City are preparing to stand and fight in their battle to prove wholehearted innocence regarding their 115 charges of the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules.
But the question on most people's lips is will we see serious repercussions brandished the way of Pep Guardiola's side, like we did in the case of Everton and Nottingham Forest last season, for example? Whilst that very point remains to be seen, City's case is like no other ever seen before in professional football and is expected to take months to get to the bottom of in its entirety.
Accused of failing to provide accurate financial information and non-compliance with UEFA rulings, City Football Group as a whole have kicked the can down the road for as long as they can, with football's governing bodies now coming together to help build a strong case. But what do we know so far?
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What are the charges against Manchester City?
The key point here is that Manchester City have been charged on 115 different occasions by the Premier League for singular breaches. Not all of these breaches relate to financial issues.
Thirty-five relates to the club's alleged failure to cooperate with the Premier League investigation from 2018 up until February of last year. Below is a breakdown of all the City are accused of and how their charges are broken down into sub-categories:
- 54x Failure to provide accurate financial information from 2009/10 to 2017/18.
- 14x Failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009/10 to 2017/18.
- 5x Failure to comply with UEFA's rules including Financial Fair Play (FFP) 2013/14 to 2017-18.
- 7x Breaching Premier League's PSR rules 2015/16 to 2017/18.
- 35x Failure to co-operate with Premier League investigations December 2018 - Feb 2023.
What do the charges mean exactly?
It is thought the charges were triggered following leaked emails from the club. The information acquired suggested Man City disguised owner equity payments as sponsorship revenue, thus violating FFP regulations designed to limit club spending.
The biggest thing to note is that City are accused of bypassing laws that make it impossible for clubs to pump billions of pounds in revenue to therefore create an unfair playing advantage. Guardiola's side have of course won the Premier League for the last four consecutive seasons, with eyebrows being raised as to how they continue to buy and sell with such ease.
It may be that their decision-makers can do so brilliantly, but what would not be deemed fair is that commercial deals are being hidden so that further funds are therefore bypassed into the club, to help sanction both transfers and player wages.
It remains to be seen whether this is true, but City will have to go a long way to prove otherwise given the sheer magnitude of the case.
When and how could Manchester City be punished?
The truth is, nobody knows what this could mean for Manchester City or English football as a whole. It is easy to compare this to the cases of Everton and Nottingham Forest from last season, but their cases were on a much smaller scale, with just a few charges brought against them. Here we are talking about 115 breaches.
It depends on whether City chooses to accept some or fight them all, which could mean an extremely longed-out process commences next month when the hearing begins. Expulsion from the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League have been mooted, as well as a points deduction, the stripping of titles and championships, plus huge fines.
City has employed some of the best lawyers in the sport and beyond to back up their innocence but you feel as if this will all come to a head before the end of 2024. Who knows what could happen, but after the Sky Blues were banned from the Champions League for FFP breaches in 2020, their appeal was overturned by CAS (Court of Arbitration of Sport) and sent on their merry way.
This remember, cannot happen again, given City, as we all know, has unlimited funds to play with to help stretch this out for as long as humanely possible. It's going to be a case that changes the shape of football, we feel, for a very long time, but an appeal with CAS is out of the question.
What have the Premier League said on the matter so far?
Much of the confusion has been why this case has taken so long to reach this point. The answer in short is that there is so much evidence and years and years of paperwork to fend through.
Premier League chief Richard Masters was asked about the case when he appeared before the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) committee earlier this year and replied: "I can [understand] but they are very different charges.
“If any club, the current champions or otherwise, had been found in breach of the spending rules, they would be in exactly the same position as Everton or Nottingham Forest.
"But the volume and character of the charges laid before Manchester City, which I obviously cannot talk about at all, are being heard in a completely different environment. There is a date set for that proceeding. Unfortunately, I can't tell you when that is but it is progressing."
Speaking again in April 2024, at a European Leagues meeting in London, Masters added: "The date is set. The case will resolve itself at some point in the near future."
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