Manchester City have been embroiled in legal disputes with UEFA and the Premier League for 12 years and they are so determined to clear their name, and the 115 charges case is so big, that it could still be years before the saga is concluded.
According to reports last week, an independent tribunal has reached decisions in the case and Sky Sports News understands that the process is moving to the appeal stage.
In 2014 City paid a £49m fine for breaking UEFA’s financial fair play rules and in 2020 they were given a two-year European competition ban and fined €30m for breaking the rules again. The ban was overturned at the Court of Arbitration for Sport where City were cleared of disguising owner funding as sponsorship income.
That victory may give City fans hope that they can win again when their Premier League appeal is heard by a new three-person panel.
If the appeal goes against them, they will not be able to go to CAS but there is the strong possibility that City’s owners would turn to the High Court to clear their name.
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Miguel Delaney, Riath Al-Samarrai and Jack Rosser joined Sunday Supplement to discuss the latest in the Manchester City charges case
In 2014 City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak said he would spend £30 million on the best 50 lawyers in the world and sue UEFA for the next 10 years rather than lose the FFP case. In his open letter to City fans on Saturday he sounded just as determined as he was 12 years ago: “The Premier League process still has a long way to run and our confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began”.
Al-Mubarak means what he says and there is so much at stake that City will do whatever it takes to clear their name. In the meantime, the most high-profile sports lawyers are keeping their thoughts to themselves until the full judgment is released. Friday’s leak, which led to reports that City had lost on 114 of the 115 charges, may well end up being used as evidence in City’s legal fight to prove that, in their opinion, the whole process has not been fair and impartial.
At the heart of all the legal challenges City have faced is the question of how they became so big and successful so quickly. City’s owners have been accused of putting too much money into the club and disguising it as sponsorship income. City have always insisted they have irrefutable evidence to prove that they did not break the rules.
City will face serious sanctions if they fail to clear their name and the case will continue to cast a shadow over Enzo Maresca and his players until it is finally resolved.
City’s reputation, and that of their owners, depends on this and the final judgement will also have implications for relations between Abu Dhabi and the United Kingdom. The two countries have close ties and common trade and diplomatic interests but the strength of that relationship will be tested if City are found definitively to have broken the rules.
City’s legal dispute with the Premier League would never have existed if it had not been for documents obtained illegally by convicted Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto. From City’s perspective, these leaked internal documents are “out-of-context materials purportedly hacked or stolen” which have been used in an “organised and clear attempt to damage the club’s reputation”.
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