Manchester City’s former financial adviser has said the club could get a verdict on 115 charges in the Premier League by Christmas, and blamed the decision-making committee for the protracted turmoil. The Premier League indicted City in early 2023 for allegedly breaching financial regulations 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 this period, City won the Premier League three times, in 2012, 2014 and 2018. Since then, they have won five more times under manager Josep Guardiola. The city continues to deny wrongdoing, and a resolution could be reached 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 supporters have had to contend with suggestions that City’s dominance, including winning the treble in 2023, is being eroded while the issue continues to plague the club.
Bolson also insisted that neither City nor the Premier League should be blamed for the litigation dragging on for years. Rather, it argued that the committee that handed down the verdict allowed 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 that there is no decision at this stage. 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.”
