The football world remains on tenterhooks as Manchester City’s case involving 115 charges from the Premier League is yet to reach a conclusion, with the verdict still pending. Newcastle United are monitoring the situation closely amid their battle with City for a Champions League spot, particularly over when the verdict will be reached – and if any sanctions are applied to this season.
Having been under scrutiny for over two years, the case saw a three-man panel pore over evidence presented by both parties in late-2024, with an outcome anticipated imminently.
Despite City manager Pep Guardiola hinting back in February that a decision might be revealed ‘next month’, April has arrived without any sign of the eagerly awaited announcement. Football finance specialists have weighed in with their latest insights on the matter.
Financial guru Stefan Borson, who has previously advised City, shared his thoughts with talkSPORT, indicating that the verdict could still be “some way away”. He expressed disappointment at the lack of a clear timeline, saying: “I think it’s a shame that we don’t know when it’s coming, actually.”
Borson suggested that both the Premier League and City should have established an expected schedule early on to prevent uncertainty among City fans, supporters of other clubs, and particularly City employees anxious about potential significant changes at the club. “I think for the Premier League and for City from the very early stages they should have set out an expected timetable so you don’t have City fans, fans of other clubs and also probably most importantly City employees are wondering whether something that could be very transformational for the club is going to drop, so I think that they should have done more,”, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Delving into the timing of the verdict, Borson explained: “When are we going to find out? In reality, we are now coming into the earliest practical period in which it could have been released. If you have a 12-week trial, it is going to take some time for the decision to be written up and for the decision to be made. They need to make sure and everything that they say in that decision is appeal-proof as possible.
“What no panel wants, what no tribunal wants, is for everything they have written to be immediately challenged either because it misrepresents what happened, what was heard, what was said, or in terms of the law. It gets undermined. It’s the negative, as of this weekend the club had not heard anything in terms of the decision.
“That is not a club source but I know that is the case. They also do not know the precise date on which they are going to learn the decision. The idea Pep’s been saying we’re due to hear by whenever, Pep doesn’t know because nobody knows. The only people who know are the tribunal, and that has not yet been discriminated to the parties.”
Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, football finance expert Kieran Maguire expressed that the exact timing for the release of the tribunal decision remains a mystery. The uncertainty extends to the consequence of the judgement itself.
Maguire commented: “When it does come out, I think the big fear is that you get the verdict as to whether they’re guilty or innocent of the 115 charges, but you don’t get told what the punishment is – that could take longer. If you look at some court cases, somebody will be found guilty or not guilty, and then the judge goes away and considers it.
“I think that would really set the cat amongst the pigeons, but in terms of the actual date, I think Pep said that it was going to be in March – well, we’ve got to the end of March and no news. So, how long it will be, we don’t know.”
In discussing the timing of a decision, Maguire added: “There’s certainly a desire from the Premier League for it to come out [before the end of the season], because otherwise, we’ve got a hangover over the summer in terms of where does this leave clubs.
“If it comes out in July, for example, and Manchester City are given a 40 or 50-point deduction, then presumably one of Leicester or Ipswich will be saying, ‘Well, if that had come out earlier, then we would have avoided relegation’ – so, therefore, they might be putting in a legal case.”
The same could be said for clubs fighting for a Champions League spot. Newcastle are currently just a point behind City in the race for qualification to the top tier of European football and should they miss out, questions could be asked.
The Magpies have aligned themselves somewhat with City in recent months. The APT case that the champions launched against the Premier League was supported by Newcastle.
“I think there will be an awful lot of clubs taking legal counsel, with a view to, ‘do we think we have a good case from a legal probability point of view?'” added Maguire.
“We do have precedent so therefore going forwards I suspect there will be an awful lot of out of court settlements because it is a lot cheaper than doing it and try and get some mediation and negotiation, but the lawyers will be rubbing their hands together if Manchester City lose.”
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-city-115-charges-verdict-31345639
