New Delhi: One of the most successful Premier League club will be going to court against the very league they compete in tomorrow morning when Manchester City face trial for the 115 charges that face for allegedly breaking the financial rules of the league. The hearing for what is being called the Trial of the Century, is set to start on Monday morning and will go on for the next 10 weeks, with the verdict being scheduled to be announced in early 2025.
Such a huge trial will have long lasting implications on both, the club and the league for sure, but it will also have an impact on the sport in general. At the very base of this trial, this is about the most successful English club over the past decade being accused of serial cheating by the same competition they’ve been dominating these past years. And it’s not just Manchester City that will be affected by the trial, it’ll be the entire City Football Group, a corporation of 13 football clubs spread across 12 countries that could face the aftermath of the trial.
BREAKING: The hearing over Manchester City’s 115 charges will start on Monday 🚨pic.twitter.com/F9skpBAGET
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 12, 2024
While the club have always denied the charges strongly, if they’re convicted it could be a massive stain on the legacy they’ve build over the past few years. If found guilty of the most serious charges, the club can face a points deduction which could potentially be huge enough to condemn them to relegation or even expulsion from the Premier League. Manchester City can even be stripped of the titles they’ve won during this period if they’re proved to be guilty.
The case has been six years in the making and if after all this City are cleared of all their charges, there will be some serious questions that will be asked of the league considering the trial has already costed both sides millions of pounds. This court battle will surely set the precedent for the years to come and is sure to dictate the story of this ongoing season.
What are the charges that Manchester City are facing?
Much has been made of the 115 charges that the Citizens are facing but not everyone is quite aware of what the charges exactly are. The club has been accused of:
54 counts of failure to provide accurate financial information from 2009-10 to 2017-18.
14 counts of failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009-10 to 2017-18.
5 counts of failure to comply with UEFA’s rules including Financial Fair Play (FFP) 2013-14 to 2017-18.
7 counts of breaching Premier League’s PSR rules 2015-16 to 2017-18.
35 counts of failure to co-operate with Premier League investigations December 2018 – Feb 2023.
These are the charges the clubs are facing and the duration of these charges coincide with the club’s most successful period where they’ve won three Premier League titles and various other trophies as well. If the club is found guilty, there will be massive questions which would cloud everything regarding Manchester City. Questions would arise on manager Pep Guardiola’s immediate future, the future of the players and how would Sheik Mansour, the owner of the club, respond?
Will these also have political implications with the UAE being a key ally of England in the gulf region considering Sheikh Mansour is the brother of the UAE President? The country has been accused of using the Premier League club as a sports-washing tool to better their image, and if found guilty this will be a major setback for the country, and it remains to be seen whether the country will be able to handle such a PR disaster.
The Timeline of Manchester City’s Investigation and Charges
November 2018: Der Spiegel Publishing claims that Manchester City have breached FFP rules.
March 2019: UEFA launches a formal investigation on the basis of Der Spiegel’s claims.
May 2019: Man City criticize the whole investigation and launch an appeal of their own.
November 2019: The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismisses City’s appeal as inadmissible.
February 2020: UEFA announces a two-year ban for the club from their competitions along with a €30 million fine.
July 2020: The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturns City’s European ban.
July 2021: Despite UEFA’s actions, media reports state that the Premier League is continuing it’s investigation for their alleged breaches.
April 2022: Der Spiegel once again comes out with a fresh report against Manchester City, explaining that the club are being investigated by the Premier League for the past three years and provided the detailed claims.
February 2023: Premier League charges the club with the infamous 115 charges.
September 2024: The 10-week long hearing on these charges starts officially.
January-February 2025: Estimated timeline on when the result of the hearing will be declared.
Which side is likely to come out on top?
It’s difficult to ascertain which party will come out of this trial with the favourable verdict considering there is no precedent set for such a trial but either side look to be quite confident of their chances. There is no final punishment looming as well considering the final verdict will be dependent on how many of those 115 charges the club will be held accountable for and the sanctions could then be applied on a sliding scale.
Manchester City have always maintained their stance that they will be cleared all of charges. Manager Pep Guardiola also mentioned that he was happy the hearing is starting on Monday, as it’s conclusion will finally put an end to all the speculation regarding the club to an end. The Premier League on the other hand also seem confident of getting the result in their favour.
The league wants to be seen as they’re serious about upholding the rules that they’ve put in place but there is speculation on whether the league wants its best team to be kicked out of the competition entirely. However, that is not the Premier League’s decision to make as the decision remains entirely in the hands of a three member independent committee who are armed with unlimited power to decide the outcome.
What the eventual outcome would be nobody knows right now but the possibilities are endless. Like the UEFA banned City from their competitions, the same could be done in the Premier League through either a points deduction, relegation or expulsion. While City’s UEFA ban was overturned by the CAS, going to them is not an option that the club has in this case.
The hearing for what is being called the ‘Trial of the Century’ is set to start on Monday morning and will go on for the next 10 weeks, with the verdict being scheduled to be announced in early 2025. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
