Manchester City's Etihad Stadium
Manchester City are fighting the Premier League over their 115 charges
The Premier League's case against Manchester City for alleged financial breaches has wrapped up, with the panel now left to deliberate their verdict.
That's according to the Daily Mail who claim the final arguments were presented at London's International Dispute Resolution Centre on Friday, marking the end of the hearing that began on September 16.
Defending Premier League champions City stand accused of multiple Financial Fair Play rule violations and failing to cooperate with the ensuing investigation. They deny all charges and remain confident of being cleared.
However, if found guilty by the three-person panel, they could face financial penalties, a points deduction or even relegation. The Daily Mail reports that the panel have now retired to review the substantial evidence presented.
Deliberations are expected to take considerable time and even once a verdict is returned, an appeal is likely to prolong the case until the end of next season. Given the extensive number of alleged breaches and the evidence provided by lawyers for both the Premier League and City, who are accused of financial misconduct over a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018, it is anticipated that the initial verdict could take months to arrive.
City boss Pep Guardiola has expressed his readiness for the case, hoping it will dispel doubts over their recent successes. In September, when asked if the team had discussed the charges, he said: "No. We're not lawyers. Erling [Haaland] is not a lawyer, no. We didn't talk about that. What's going to happen, the independent panel, and we're going to accept the sentence.", reports the Mirror.
"I'm happy it's starting on Monday. I know there will be more rumours, new specialists about the sentences. We're going to see. I know what people are looking forward to, what they expect, I know, what I read for many years. Everybody is innocent until guilt is proven. So we'll see."
City's stance against the Premier League took a hit after changes to the associated party transaction rules were passed by a 16-4 vote last month.
Since Sheikh Mansour's takeover in 2008, City have clinched eight Premier League titles, three FA Cups, six League Cups, the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.