Manchester City and their Premier League rivals continue to await the verdict on allegations of breaching financial regulations brought against Josep Guardiola’s side. The city was charged with violating financial regulations in early 2023.
The club strongly denies any wrongdoing and has remained steadfast in its stance over the past 33 months and beyond. The city claims an independent panel heard the case last year and has thoroughly gathered incontrovertible evidence to support its position.
The examination began in September last year and lasted more than a dozen weeks, the Mirror reported. It’s been more than a year since that process began.
When was the claim issued?
The Premier League announced in a statement on 6 February 2023 that it had referred multiple alleged breaches of Premier League rules by City to a commission.
City expressed surprise in its own statement, claiming it had participated extensively and provided the league with a vast amount of comprehensive material.
City welcomed the review and expected it to be “absolutely cancelled”, while the Premier League confirmed it would not be making any further comment on the situation until further notice.
What are the charges?
The alleged violations mainly include failing to provide accurate financial information and failing to properly declare player and manager compensation. They are accused of not cooperating with the investigation and of breaching Premier League and UEFA regulations.
What penalties could City face?
If Citi were found guilty of the most serious charges, the consequences would be significant. However, apart from Everton and Nottingham Forest receiving point deductions for PSR violations in the past few years, there is little precedent.
The league could impose a transfer ban or strip him of his title. In theory, City could be excluded from the top flight entirely.
Guardiola alluded to the latter when he declared in November 2023: “If my future depended on being here (in the Premier League) or in Ligue 1, I would never think about it. That’s right. I have a better chance of staying in Ligue 1 than if I were in the Champions League.”
What did the Premier League declare?
In short, very few. The league’s chief executive has repeatedly insisted that the matter cannot be publicly discussed until a final verdict is reached, in accordance with regulations.
He previously told the BBC: “What we do is we announce the charges when they are made and we publish the decisions when they are made. Everything in between is managed by an independent commission and they have made it very clear that they want that process to be confidential.”
Masters reiterated in September that “the only time we can talk publicly about this is when a decision is made.”
“I can’t speculate why or when, but that’s all I can really say.”
Why does it take so long?
The long period of time is due to the sheer scale of this incident.
As The i Paper reported, the commission examined more than 250,000 documents.
The 12-week hearing was considerably longer than the five days required in Everton’s original PSR case, which explains why nearly a year has passed.
According to the i newspaper, any judgment is expected to be several hundred pages long, and a verdict could be imminent.
Former City adviser Stefan Bolson echoes that view, believing the penultimate international break of the season (the last one ending in March) is the ideal moment.
