Manchester City have been facing 115 overhead charges from the Premier League for almost three years, but a former adviser believes a verdict could be reached before the end of the year.
Manchester City could expect a verdict on 115 charges against them in the Premier League by Christmas, according to a former financial adviser who blamed them for the protracted row.
City were accused by the Premier League in early 2023 of breaching financial rules over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018. Hearings began more than a year ago, but the verdict has not yet been made public.
During the period in which the rules were allegedly breached, City won the Premier League three times – in 2012, 2014 and 2018. Since then, Pep Guardiola has won the Premier League five more times. City continues to deny any wrongdoing, and answers may finally be revealed by the end of the year.
Former club adviser Stefan Bolson told talkSPORT: “I think Simon thinks it will be announced next year. I think it could still be announced before Christmas. The decision has been imminent for quite some time and there’s not much they can do. It doesn’t take that long.”
City and their fans have had to contend with suggestions that their dominance is affecting the club as a whole, including winning the treble in 2023.
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Bolson also argued that neither City nor the Premier League should be held responsible for the case dragging on for years, instead claiming that the committee deciding the verdict was allowing the saga to continue.
He said: “Look, no one knows because even the parties themselves should have been informed by now. All the lawyers are surprised there is no decision at this stage, but it’s on both sides. I’ll tell you who’s supporting it. It’s the committee that’s making the decision. They’re the ones holding the pen. They’re the ones waiting for everyone to make the decision.”
“Well, no one knows. We know the long list – we can put it together from everyone on the Judiciary Committee – but we don’t know who’s on that list. We can make some guess that it’s probably two lawyers and maybe an accountant. But we don’t know who is on the committee and what they were instructed to submit by when.
“Given that so much time has passed and everyone is too stunned to make a decision, we now suspect that there was actually very little guidance given to them and that they were not effectively compensated for their time from the moment the case ended.
“Perhaps the Premier and Manchester City should have agreed to a process with the committee that would effectively give them exclusive remuneration for deliberating and making a decision after the public hearing has concluded, over a period of, say, three months, or at worst six months, during the closed season.”
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