The Etihad
The Etihad
Manchester City have moved closer to learning the verdict on their Premier League charges just as we've all moved closer to death.
A lot of journalism is having to have answers when people ask what something means. From how City's transfer window will impact on their season to which game Rico Lewis will miss after his sending off against Crystal Palace, it is always handy to be able to understand the consequences and pass that on.
Whenever anything crops up around the Premier League charges, the answer to what it means is almost always 'We don't know yet'. Everyone works to find out of course, but private arbitration between private businesses does a pretty good job of not making any of the evidence public so almost all of it is guesswork as to what has and hasn't been relevant in the case.
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On top of that, the nature of the accusations are unprecedented for the competition. Similar cases involving the Premier League or the particular area of law have been used to put a benchmark on when to expect things but nothing is certain; there has been no official timeline announced as to when a verdict will be reached or how long any appeals may take.
It is useful to know that the hearing has now ended, as the Mail reported on Monday, because it is roughly when it was set to end after starting 12 weeks earlier back in September. However, if it is progress that a big part of the process is completed that doesn't mean anything for what is to come; it is still hoped to all be concluded before the end of this 2024/25 season but there is no guarantee.
The case is moving forward in the sense that the legal teams from City and the Premier League can do no more until appeal, having submitted all of their evidence and produced their best arguments to sway the three-man panel. Yet, the end of the hearing brings with it no clarity whatsoever on when it will all be over; it is only reaching its conclusion for now in the way that we all are on Planet Earth.
The day that one side can start strongly disputing the result is coming and eagerly anticipated (well, maybe not although nobody likes not getting a proper answer) but with both sides sticking to the private nature of the case we still don't know yet when that day will be. Until that changes, there are many other things in football and in life to be bothered about instead.