With the World Cup now over, all focus for English football fans will turn towards the upcoming Premier League season. One key off-field issue which was expected by many to be resolved this summer remains up in the air, however.
Indeed, Manchester City have long been accused of breaching financial rules between 2009 and 2018. These relate to various rules, including failure to provide accurate financial information and accurate reports on player and manager compensation.
The Etihad outfit were initially charged with 115 alleged breaches of FFP back in February 2023, but that number increased to 130. A hearing into the charges against the Premier League side concluded in December 2024, but a final verdict has yet to be revealed to the public.
Many felt the outcome would be known this summer, but with it still unclear if Man City are guilty or not, financial expert Stefan Borson has spoken out on the ‘inexplicable’ situation as he provided a new update on the matter.
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Stefan Borson Baffled By 'Remarkable' Delay on Man City Case
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Speaking to TalkSport, Borson slammed the 'inexplicable' delay for an outcome ahead of the 2026/27 Premier League season. He was asked to provide an update on the case, and suggested that 'no decision' has been made yet:
"The general feeling around the industry is that there’s been no decision yet, as remarkable as that is. 19 months on, 20 months on almost, still no decision.
"Totally unacceptable, of course, beyond all of the parties’ expectations about when they would receive a decision. Broadly inexplicable by any sport of norms in these sorts of matters."
Borson went on to reference Chelsea's charges from the FA relating to 74 alleged breaches of rules relating to football agents, which came after they picked up a £10m fine from the Premier League. He noted:
"But these cases are taking a very long time. I mean, you do also have a situation with the Chelsea charges from the FA. That was a hearing that was held in November.
"It was a sanction-only hearing, a very simple hearing and we’re still waiting for that, and that’s been sort of eight or nine months.
"So I don’t really know what’s going on with these cases in terms of the timings and why they’re so elongated, but they’re completely out of the realms of normality. Most decisions are in way before this."
Man City Spending Suggests They Think They Will Win Case
Elliot Anderson England Manchester City 2026Bradley Collyer/Pool via REUTERS via Action Images
Borson was then asked to give his thoughts on how he thinks things could play out for Man City, but insisted it was still unclear. He did suggest that the amount Man City have spent in recent times on new signings, stadium developments, and more suggests the Manchester club are confident of being proven innocent.
He said: "I think just in the behaviour of Manchester City, since the hearing itself in particular. The spending and the level of confidence that they're portraying, the signature of numerous contracts, the fact that a manager was prepared to move from Chelsea, the fact that they've built a £400million stadium and facility at one end of the ground.
"Every signal that the club has given in terms of its spending and its putting its money where its mouth is, suggests that they feel that they've won."
He did add, however, "But of course, all of these cases are very difficult to predict because litigation is something that even the best cases can lose and you should never be too certain about the outcome of any of those cases."
Borson's concluding comments were to predict Man City to win the case, noting: "It's more likely that City will prevail given the behaviours and given the face that what's alleged is inherently unlikely.
"But of course, if they've done it, as I've said many times, the punishment will be extremely severe and this won't be about transfer bans or things around the edges. If everything is proved against City, the sanctions will be severe."