The long-awaited hearing into 115 alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules by Manchester City will begin on Monday, September 16 (local time), in a move that is seen as a risk for both Man City and the Premier League.
Both sides’ reputations are at stake. If Man City are found guilty, their success since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan took over in 2008 would be irreparably tarnished.
The Citizens could face unprecedented financial penalties and a huge points deduction, and could even be expelled from the Premier League if they are found to have repeatedly breached the league's rules.
Man City have won 21 major trophies since 2008, having won just nine in the 128 years before Sheikh Mansour arrived. Since Pep Guardiola took charge in 2016, the Etihad outfit have smashed a host of records. But all that success is under scrutiny amid 115 allegations.
However, if Man City are successful in their bid to fight the allegations, it would be a humiliation for the Premier League, with senior executives, including chief executive Richard Masters, facing huge pressure to step down.
In 2022, Man City successfully appealed UEFA's two-year ban from the Champions League for financial irregularities between 2012 and 2016.
Guardiola said on Friday he was “happy” that City’s fate was now being decided by a three-man panel of legal experts. The former Barcelona coach has repeatedly defended the club’s position in what is considered the biggest sports legal case in history.
"It will start soon and hopefully finish soon. An independent panel will decide and I look forward to that decision. I'm glad it's started.
I know what people are expecting, what they expect, I know, what I have read for many, many years. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. So we will wait and see. Justice exists in modern democracy. Nothing is more complicated than that. We believe that we have done nothing wrong" - said the Spanish coach.
The allegations against Man City stem from a series of emails discovered by the Football Leaks website and published by German magazine Der Spiegel in 2018. They include conversations between senior Man City executives to conceal the true amount of sponsorship money the club generates. However, The Citizens have repeatedly denied the authenticity of the leaked emails.
The Football Leaks documents were the basis for UEFA's action against Man City. UEFA had declared Man City guilty and imposed a two-year ban from the Champions League. However, UEFA's decision was later overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) because the accusation had expired under UEFA's five-year limitation rule.
However, the Premier League has no specific deadline for legal matters and in February 2023, they made a number of accusations against Man City.
