The latest Premier League news as Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is, once again, asked about the club's 115 charges case outcome.
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Pep Guardiola in the Man City dugout.
Pep Guardiola has grown accustomed to waiting for an outcome based on Man City's alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules.
(Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola insists he's not annoyed with the fact silence remains over a verdict for the club's alleged 115-plus breaches of the Premier League's financial rules. While doing so, he hinted to Liverpool and other rivals that they might still have to wait a few more weeks.
Since February 2023, Man City have been under the spotlight when they were accused of more than 115 breaches of English top-flight financial rules dated between 2009 and 2018, then subsequently failing to cooperate with the investigation into the matter. It was met with strong denial of all charges from the club, who have fought a drawn-out legal battle hopeful of seeing their name cleared of any wrongdoing.
With a trial concluding last December, an independent panel were tasked with reviewing each and every charge, against the evidence provided by Liverpool's rivals and the Premier League. No timeframe was placed upon when they would be able to produce their findings, although Guardiola had hinted last month that he was looking ahead to March for the final verdict to arrive.
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Friday, March 28 marks the end of this month's international break with April set to arrive in four days' time. Still, there has not been a peep regarding a conclusion.
With Man City returning for FA Cup quarter-final action against Bournemouth this weekend, their manager sat in front of the press this lunchtime - and was asked if he was annoyed to not yet have answers. He replied: "No. No.
"We are more than one year with that. Nothing changes in one more week, two more weeks.
"Three more weeks. Four more weeks," he added - with the last two options uttered through a chuckle.
Liverpool might not be in direct contention with Man City for this season's Premier League title. As they enter the final nine-match run-in, they sit 12 points ahead of second-placed Arsenal, while Guardiola's side trail the Reds by a mighty 22 points.
However, on Merseyside a verdict to the case will still hold significance based on the rivalry which has blossomed throughout the late era of dominance over English football at the Etihad Stadium. With such a scale to the alleged rule-breaking never experienced before, the scale of a possible punishment knows no bounds.
With the idea of a points deduction so heavy it could inflict certain relegation, that would have a major impact on Premier League title races to come; ones that Liverpool have a desire to be a part of. However, it must be stressed that City deny all charges put forward to them.
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