Man City learn new timeline for 115 Premier League charges verdict
- Man City have been accused of systematic financial breaches over multiple seasons
- The trial was concluded in December but no verdict is thought to be near
- City are embroiled in a separate legal battle with the Premier League
Manchester City are not expected to learn the verdict of their long-running legal battle with the Premier League until after the current season concludes, according to a report.
The serial top-flight champions were charged with more than 100 breaches of the competition's financial regulations in February 2023. Another 19 months elapsed before the so-called 'Trial of the Century' eventually got underway and it wasn't until last December that legal proceedings were finally concluded.
City boss Pep Guardiola claimed at the start of February that a decision would be revealed in "one month", yet April is already underway and no verdict is expected in the near future. In fact, The Telegraph claim that it could be "quite a wait" before City and the rest of the division finally find out their fate.
Initial reports mistakenly claimed that City had been accused of 115 breaches, but there have been 130 alleged offences committed between 2009 and 2023 - a period which saw City win seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups and the club's first-ever Champions League crown.
Many of these breaches - all of which City fiercely deny - relate to purposefully hampering investigations into their finances, but the most serious accuse the club owned by Abu Dhabi's royal family of false accounting.
These supposed offences prompted UEFA to ban City from European competition for two years in February 2020. That punishment was overturned by the court of arbitration for sport (CAS) after various breaches were 'time-barred' - i.e. occurred too long ago to be punished according to UEFA's regulations. There are no time restrictions relating to the Premier League's financial rules.
Potential punishments range from extensive fines to multiple relegations.
City are in the midst of an entirely separate legal dispute against the Premier League relating to sponsorship rules. The litigious top-flight outfit struck a partial victory in that case and are confident of forcing a complete rewrite of the regulations. How they will fare in the wider legal battle remains to be seen.
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