Football

Reports on Friday, September 25 that Manchester City had been found guilty on the vast majority of the charges of financial impropriety brought by the Premier League rocked the footballing world.

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Four days after The Athletic broke the story, the league itself confirmed in a statement that an independent commission had found the club guilty «of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.»

League CEO Richard Masters described the case and the decision as «the most significant in Premier League history» and said the league was «vindicated» in its decision to pursue the charges.

City, for their part, said they were «disappointed and surprised» by the commission’s «opinion» and insisted it would be «relentless and, where necessary, proactive» in pursuing options to clear their name.

After 21 months of deliberation, the outcome was delivered to club executives at a Premier League shareholders’ meeting last Thursday, where non-disclosure agreements were signed (as per The Guardian). Now the news is public, speculation is rife over the severity of the punishment City might face. The league says this has not been decided.

We still might be a little way from reaching that point.

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Can Man City appeal against Premier League guilty verdict?

It is widely understood that City will challenge the guilty verdict from the Premier League, as has been their approach in their various cases with football’s governing bodies, going back to the Football Leaks revelations of 2018.

«The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case,» it said on September 29. «The club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums. 

«The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted. Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.»

In an open letter to supporters on September 26, City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak wrote: «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.»

Unlike in their case with UEFA in 2020, where City were banned from the Champions League for two years before having their punishment overturned at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), there is no recourse to CAS under Premier League rules.

Section W of the Premier League rulebook outlines the mechanism for a challenge to a commission decision.

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The chair of the independent judicial panel, Sir Gary Hickinbottom, will appoint three members. One of those must have held judicial office and will chair the appeal board.

Like the initial hearing, the appeal board would hear representation in private. It is important to note that the appeal would not be a retrial; it is a review of the decision of the initial commission hearing.

Given that ran over 21 months, it is fair to assume that the independent commission went to great lengths to ensure that its verdict was as appeal-proof as possible on the facts of the case.

In their briefing last Friday, City said: «The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.» 

This could be interpreted as a suggestion that an appeal will focus on process and bias. Speaking to talkSPORT on Monday, former City financial advisor Stefan Borson said an appeal predicated on such grounds is unlikely to succeed.

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How long will Man City’s 115 charges appeal take?

In his letter, Al Mubarak said: «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.»

This might be true, but there is now a ticking clock, given a judgement has been received. Both sides now have 14 days to appeal.

There is also the matter of a sanctions hearing, which will follow the guilty verdict. It is unclear at this stage whether this will take place before or after City’s appeal.

Everton were docked 10 points for breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules in 2024 and this was reduced to six points on appeal. Given the likelihood of a far more severe and wide-ranging punishment for City, the Premier League might decide it is prudent to deal with the appeal hearing before turning to sanctions.

In short, an appeal must be lodged by next month and would not run to the same length of time as the original hearing. But with a sanctions hearing also to conclude, things coming to a conclusion before the end of this season is still not guaranteed. 

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