Man City FFP: ‘This week’ claim made over charges email after ‘nuclear expulsion’ verdict

A football finance expert reckons Man City could hear finally hear the verdict ‘this week’ in their FFP case following months of speculation.

An independent commission hearing to examine 115 charges laid by the Premier League against Man City started in September 2024 and ended in December 2024.

The Premier League opened an investigation into Man City way back in 2018 and after a number of legal delays, charges were finally laid in February 2023 and the club were referred to an independent commission.

The charges against the Citizens relate to the requirement to accurately report financial information, including around the value of sponsorship deals, the submission of details of manager and player pay information and to a club’s responsibility as a Premier League member to adhere to UEFA’s financial regulations and to the league’s own profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).

They are also accused of failing to co-operate with the league’s investigation. In all, there are charges relating to every season between 2009-10 and 2022-23.

Man City issued a statement strenuously denying the allegations on the day the charges were brought, saying they they welcomed the opportunity for an independent commission “to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of our position.”

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The club added: “As such, we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.”

Pep Guardiola revealed in February that he was expecting to learn the verdict in March but that prediction is now over six months out of date.

Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson has always insisted that the longer the wait went on the worse the verdict could be for the Citizens.

Borson told Football Insider: “I think 10 months is enough now, and whatever the decision, there’s little justification for it stretching on further.

“I think that’s why people are expecting it, just simply because of the passage of time as opposed to it meaning anything about which way it’s gone.

“I’ve always said I think the longer it goes the worse it is for City as a concept. But it’s quite hard to know whether this is late or whether it’s about right because we don’t know any of the details.”

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But Borson now reckons the verdict could delivered “this week” after months of waiting, he addedl “I think it could drop any time to the parties.

“It wouldn’t be a big shock to me if it came in an email for release this week. Of course, it might not, but it would not be a surprise.

“Obviously, then we’ll see how long it takes for that then to be disseminated out to the outside world.”

Former Scottish footballer David Winnie – who is now a sports lawyer for London-based firm Gilson Gray – revealed in August the reasons that fans are still waiting for a verdict in Man City’s case.

Winnie told The I Paper in August: “There are several reasons why this is taking quite as long as it has.

“Firstly, the sheer volume of charges: there’s a whole swathe of issues that the three-person panel is having to wade its way through in terms of evidence, documents, leaked emails, various disclosure obligations. It’s a pile of stuff.

“And then I think the three-person panel knows the weight of its decision. So I think it wants to get it right.

“The hurdle that it needs to jump here is ‘the balance of probabilities’. But because of the sheer seriousness of the charges, it could actually lead the panel to applying a heightened scrutiny.”

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On the potential for other clubs to file lawsuits once the verdict is out, Winnie added: “When the decision comes down, and if some of these charges, not even all of them but some of them, are proven, I would not be surprised if other teams in the Premier League jump on the bandwagon, as it were, and start their own proceedings against either the club or the Premier League itself.”

When asked what kind of punishment Man City could face if found guilty of the most severe charges, Winnie replied: “Given the severity and given the sheer number of charges, they have to be seen to be coming down hard.

“[If it were] a fine, you could put any number you want, and Man City will just reach into the back pocket and pay it. To them, a fine is a win.

“You’re then maybe looking at ratcheting up a points deduction that could be potentially applied retrospectively with the past seasons so lost titles.

“I suppose the ultimate would be expulsion from the Premier League. That would be the nuclear option.

“They’ve got restrictions, and potentially on player registrations or conditional punishments or suspended sanctions, or a combination of all of them, but I think the big one for Man City that they don’t want is expulsion from the Premier League. Anything else, they’ll deal with, they can handle.”