MANCHESTER — Manchester City's long-running Premier League case over 115 alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play rules is moving to the appeal stage and could drag on for years, after reports claimed most of the charges were found to have been proven. Sky Sports News understands an independent tribunal has reached decisions in the case, which has embroiled City in legal disputes with UEFA and the Premier League for 12 years.
City have contested financial rules for more than a decade. In 2014 the club paid a £49m fine for breaking UEFA's financial fair play rules, and in 2020 they were given a two-year European competition ban and fined €30m for breaking the rules again. That ban was overturned at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where City were cleared of disguising owner funding as sponsorship income. That victory may give City fans hope for the Premier League appeal, which will be heard by a new three-person panel. If the appeal goes against them, they will not be able to go to CAS, but there is the strong possibility the owners would turn to the High Court to clear their name.
City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak has struck a defiant tone throughout. In 2014 he said he would spend £30 million on the best 50 lawyers in the world and sue UEFA for the next 10 years rather than lose the FFP case. In an open letter to City fans on Saturday he sounded just as determined as he was 12 years ago: "The Premier League process still has a long way to run and our confidence and intent in proving the club's innocence is just as strong as when this began".
The most high-profile sports lawyers are keeping their thoughts to themselves until the full judgment is released. Friday's leak, which led to reports that City had lost on 114 of the 115 charges, may well end up being used as evidence in City's legal fight to prove that, in their opinion, the whole process has not been fair and impartial. At the heart of the challenges is the question of how City became so big and successful so quickly, with owners accused of putting too much money into the club and disguising it as sponsorship income. City have always insisted they have irrefutable evidence to prove they did not break the rules. The club describes the leaked internal documents obtained by convicted Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto as "out-of-context materials purportedly hacked or stolen" used in an "organised and clear attempt to damage the club's reputation".
City will face serious sanctions if they fail to clear their name, and the case will continue to cast a shadow over Enzo Maresca and his players until it is finally resolved. The club's reputation and that of its owners depends on the outcome, with the final judgment also carrying implications for relations between Abu Dhabi and the United Kingdom, two countries with close trade and diplomatic ties that will be tested if City are found definitively to have broken the rules.