Friday’s revelation was Premier League expects Manchester City to be found guilty of most of 115 charges against them It was a watershed moment in English football history, perhaps the first of many in quick succession. Although the independent commission’s decision has yet to be officially confirmed by the league, with City insisting they are awaiting a final decision, the decision could go down as a historic moment in the end of a dynasty. However, there are still many effects to sift through.
On the one hand, sanctions still need to be imposed, but even these could change as City appeal the committee’s decision. As the process continues, questions will be raised about the future of City’s expensive squad, its status and what rival clubs may now be inclined to do to gain some level of compensation for the losses they have suffered.
What happens if the city appeals?
Given City’s public insistence that the process is continuing, we must view an appeal as a possibility rather than a certainty, although the industry has long expected the club to challenge any guilty verdicts. Premier League rules mean City will have 14 days to appeal after the verdict is announced.
English football can punish Manchester City for their transgressions, but can the Premier League undo the damage?
James Benge
Many fear this will leave English football mired in litigation over the coming months. Premier League rules seem to suggest that shouldn’t be the case. Rule W.86 provides that an appeal “shall not last more than five days and shall be heard in a concentrated manner.” It sets a time limit of 12 weeks after the appeal is lodged.
If the appeal is against City, who have always denied any wrongdoing, they will not have the option of appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport but will have the option of taking the decision to arbitration. Here, City must argue that the independent panel either acted outside its jurisdiction or was motivated by fraud, bad faith or bad faith, committed “serious procedural errors such that the applicant’s rights were manifestly and materially prejudiced”, misinterpreted the law and made decisions that could not have been applied had they thought correctly in the case. In short, the barriers to successful arbitration will be very high.
Could City pursue other avenues besides arbitration with the league? An email published by Der Spiegel in 2018 and condemned by the club as “out-of-context material allegedly hacked or stolen” relayed the views of club president Simon Cliff on how president Khaldoon Al Mubarak would handle UEFA’s investigation into his finances. “Carlton [Al Mubarak] Said he would rather spend £30m on 50 of the best lawyers in the world and sue them [UEFA] If this belligerent attitude continues at the Etihad Stadium, there will be plenty of time for legal arguments to ensue.
al mubarak First public statement since the verdict was announced Little has been revealed about City’s next steps, other than insisting they remain confident their innocence will be proven. “Following Friday’s media coverage, many of you will have spent the evening answering questions and responding to messages from friends, family and colleagues. So have I. This is what I say to my family: There is still a long way to go in the Premier League process and our confidence and determination to prove the club’s innocence is as strong as when we started.
“While some are quick to jump to their own conclusions and there is too much noise around us, nothing has changed. We have faced challenges together before and won. There are still many who want to disrupt the momentum of our club. We will not give them that chance.”
What penalties could City face?
If any appeal fails, the sanctions available to the original panel are very comprehensive. Fines, points deductions and even expulsion from the Premier League are all being considered. The panel’s sanctions could include any combination of these sanctions, in addition to “other penalties such as these.” [they] should be deemed appropriate”.
There is also the question of what kind of retroactive penalties might arise. The allegations against Manchester City date back to 2009, the year after the club was bought by its Abu Dhabi owners. From that point on, everything they accomplished on the pitch was marred by rules the panel believed they had broken. That means winning at least three Premier League titles by 2018, as well as as many League Cups, FA Cups and Community Shields. Will Manchester City lose them? What happened next during a period when the club was deemed not to be cooperating with the investigation? After all, without the investment of the current owners, it’s hard to argue that this team would be the best in Europe.
Juventus were stripped of the Serie A title in 2005 and 2006 After the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal, the former was vacant and the latter belonged to Inter Milan. Many who saw their team finish second behind Manchester City will no doubt want to see punishment. Likewise, there will be questions about whether players should pay a price for breaking the rules before arriving.
Former Manchester City midfielder Rodri said on Friday. “What we did, they can’t take away from us. It’s not paid for with money. It’s paid for with hard work, with injuries, with walking side by side every day. I can tell you that it’s all deserved and I’m delighted that I got to spend one of the best eras of English football here.”
Will this punishment end the crisis?
Maybe not. At least four Premier League clubs have lodged holding claims and they reserve the right to seek compensation from Manchester City for lost revenue caused by their breaches. Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Manchester United are understood to be the four teams, while other clubs are reportedly considering their options. Of course, there are many clubs who might try to argue that their financial situation would be different if City had acted differently.
Former Liverpool and Aston Villa executive Christian Purslow pointed out that this threat is of great significance to the entire league. “It’s a bit like ‘where does it all end?’ because if you look at every season – and we now know of the nine seasons that City have broken the rules – then all 19 of their Premier League opponents in that season have suffered to varying degrees an easily calculated loss. Whether it’s a place in the Premier League, each of those seats is worth £3 million,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“The fifth-placed team not making it to the Champions League could lose tens of millions of pounds, and of course the relegated teams. Let’s say the 18th-placed team would be 17th if City weren’t there. Of course, they’ve suffered huge losses.”
“If you add up all these claims, nine years on, and this is just in the Premier League, you can see the potential for things to get out of hand here is huge. I really hope common sense prevails here and a comprehensive solution can be found between the authorities and Manchester City to look at all these issues and try to draw a line in the sand.”
What about the city team?
If tough sanctions were imposed on City, there would inevitably be questions about what that would mean for a team that spends so much money and is used to competing for sport’s biggest prize. Relegation could be a very real risk for Manchester City, complicating the futures of some of their brightest stars. According to CBS Sports sources, several players in the squad do not have release clauses in their contracts and could leave for a fixed fee if City exits the Premier League.
It reflects City’s approach throughout the process which has been to assume their innocence will shine through, hence the massive investment in Enzo Maresca’s side this summer, with more than $500 million invested in the likes of Elliot Anderson, Ayoub Bouadi and Enzo Fernandez.
As of writing on Saturday, September 26, no one from the Manchester City squad has responded to the news. Maresca posted a photo of his bare feet on the grass on his Instagram page with the caption, “Time to breathe. Time to analyze. Time to learn.”