Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (left) speaks to Ruben Dias after the final whistle in the Premier League match at Kenilworth Road, Luton. Picture date: Sunday December 10, 2023.
A resolution to Manchester City’s legal case with the Premier League might not be far away.
Richard Masters, the league’s chief executive, said on Tuesday that a date had been set for proceedings to be heard in a sports tribunal. He didn’t disclose that date, however.
The league has accused City of about 80 alleged breaches of its financial rules and 30 more relating to its alleged failure to cooperate with an investigation. The charges were announced in February last year.
If found guilty, penalties could include a deduction of points or even expulsion from the top division.
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Speaking before a parliamentary select committee, Masters was questioned over why some financial investigations, like those involving Everton and Nottingham Forest, could be dealt with quickly and others, like City’s, took longer.
“The volume and character of the charges laid before Man City, which I obviously cannot talk about at all, are being heard in a completely different environment,” Masters said.
“There is a date set for that proceeding. I cannot unfortunately tell you when that is, but that is progressing.”
Soccer
British newspaper The Daily Mail reported in November the hearing would take place in the late autumn of this year.
Since being hit with the slew of charges, City has retained its Premier League title, won the Champions League for the first time, and become club world champion.
Everton was handed the biggest sporting sanction in the Premier League’s history — a 10-point deduction — after being found by an independent commission to have made a loss of 124.5 million pounds ($155 million) over three years up to the end of the 2021-22 season.
The league’s profit and financial sustainability rules allow clubs to lose a maximum of 105 million pounds ($130 million) over a three-year period or face sanctions.
The number and scale of the charges laid before City means any punishment would likely be much more severe.
