Man City began to be "brought to light" in February 2023 when they were accused of violating up to 115 financial fair play regulations. Since last year, many Premier League teams have been punished for this issue, such as Everton or Nottingham Forest. However, Man City has not been punished yet and many teams are waiting for that day.
For over a year, the Etihad team has continuously denied and said they will "fight to the end" to protect their innocence. In the last 7 seasons in the Premier League, Man City has won 6 times, along with 1 UEFA Champions League. They cannot let a big scandal ruin that glory.
The incident originated from Football Leaks revelations published in German newspaper Der Spiegel in 2019. The Premier League then launched an investigation based on what Der Spiegel published. In its article, the German newspaper clearly stated how Man City tried to circumvent financial fair play regulations. Some of the tricks listed were transferring sponsorship money to companies in the UAE, inflating costs for advertising projects, etc.
February 2020 was Man City's first shock when they were banned from European competition for 2 years by UEFA and fined 30 million Euros. After that, the English team filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and had their sentence greatly reduced. They only had to pay 10 million Euros at that time and still played Champions League as usual.
On February 6, 2023, Man City were dealt another blow when the Premier League announced that they had referred 115 allegations of financial misconduct against the Manchester club to an independent investigation committee. Premier League CEO Richard Masters said in January 2024 that the investigation would begin in April this year. However, it took five months for it to actually take place.
In fact, September 16, 2024 is the official start date for the investigation. Throughout the past year, the process of collecting evidence and taking statements from relevant people has been carried out. The side handling the case wants to have all the most solid evidence before making the decision to start.
"I think they've been preparing for this as best they can. I'm not surprised that the prosecution is only now setting a date for the formal investigation," an unnamed lawyer told The Athletic.
As for Man City, since being "named" for being involved in 115 allegations of financial violations, they have continuously said they will appeal and use the "best team of lawyers in the world" to fight this scandal. The team leader of the team of lawyers hired by Man City is David Pannick. He is highly regarded in the British legal community and is currently a member of Blackstone Chambers. This is a group of law firms in central London, England.
How the Premier League and the independent investigation will handle it is kept secret. This makes many people feel uncomfortable because it is "somewhat" not as transparent and quick as the Everton or Nottingham cases. However, if you look at it from the opposite direction, 115 allegations is a huge number, revealing a few details during the investigation can make things messy for the authorities.
