Man City 115 charges verdict and FOUR questions we already know the answers to
It is not far off a year since the hearing into City's alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations ended but there is no sign of verdicts from the independent commission
We should care, supporters of every club up and down the country should care, we should care that justice is done, or at least seen to be done. We should look forward to the announcement of the verdicts on Manchester City’s 115 charges as one of the most important landmarks in modern football.
But it is getting to the stage when we really won’t care. Opposition fans don’t sing about the allegations of financial cheating any more, Pep Guardiola doesn’t get asked about it any more. It could be 15 charges, 115 charges, 1,115 charges, but is anyone REALLY bothered any more?
The charges were laid in February, 2023, for goodness sake. The hearing into the charges went on for 12 weeks and finished on December 6, 2024. Yet still nothing. Apparently, some football finance experts expect a verdict during the next international break, which begins on Monday, November 10. Don’t hold your breath.
The charges that relate to financial rules (not the non-cooperation charges) cover a period from 2009 until 2018. So, the last time City were alleged to have contravened a financial regulation was seven years ago.
Since the charges were laid, City have spent over £600million in the transfer market. They have signed 26 players. There have been numerous new contracts signed, not least one by Erling Haaland, who committed himself to the club until 2034.
The big Norwegian was clearly not too concerned about any impending legal doom. In fact, the way things are going, his contract might be coming to an end by the time the verdicts are announced.
Don’t forget, there were suggestions the verdicts would be announced during the past international break. And the bottom line is that for every day, week and month that goes by, the relevance of the charges and their outcomes gets less and less.
Obviously, we simply do not know what the verdicts will be. City might well be sent down to the Northern Premier League, they might well have titles stripped, we simply do not know.
But we can guess, we can imagine. And after this painfully drawn-out process, we can guess, we can imagine that there will be verdicts that mean the only true winners are the lawyers.
Look, no-one really has a clue, but:
- Does anyone envisage City being relegated?
- Does anyone envisage Premier League titles being taken away?
No and no.
- Does anyone envisage a massive financial penalty?
- Does anyone envisage a relatively minor points penalty?
Yes and yes.
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