Manchester City are still waiting to hear the outcome of their hearing over the 115 alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules.
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MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 20: A general view as both teams line up in front of a giant tifo for Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and AFC Bournemouth at Etihad Stadium on May 20, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 20: A general view as both teams line up in front of a giant tifo for Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and AFC Bournemouth at Etihad Stadium on May 20, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
The season is over and Manchester City still do not know the outcome of their hearing over the 115 Premier League charges.
With a 10-week trial heard by an independent panel, City presented their defence over the alleged breaches of financial rules. City always protested their innocence and looked forward to putting forward a 'comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence' that they says exists 'in support of [their] position.'
A verdict was originally expected in Spring 2025, however we are approaching June and there is no sign of movement from the panel. Gary Neville says that is a 'disgrace', however it is surely in the best interests of all parties that the evidence is considered in full and for as long as the panel needs.
It would be more of a disgrace if the panel rushed their decision just to meet an arbitrary deadline. For so many charges, each will have a defence and each one deserves to be heard equally.
On the other hand, there may be some relief at the Premier League that the season has finished before a verdict drops. If the decision is announced before the start of the season, the subsequent media storm may be softened.
Even if the Premier League prove City are guilty of the charges, it would be highly embarrassing for a league which positions itself as the best in the world for its most dominant team in recent years to have been proven to be cheating for years. They would claim it as a victory, but one which surely undermines the league in the process.
And if City are innocent as they insist. Well that would be an embarrassment on the highest scale for the Premier League.
Whatever the result, City figures have promised to offer their forthright views on the charges at the end of the process. At the end of the 2023 season, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said: "When we're done, we'll have a conversation. I'll give you my very blunt views."
A year later, he said there is frustration at how long the process was taking. Twelve months on, and his annual interview will almost certainly take place before the verdict is announced. That saves the Premier League some immediate headlines, while a lack of weekly Pep Guardiola press conferences will also take some heat off the immediate media frenzy.
Guardiola has promised to air his own thoughts on the charges and how City have been viewed over the last two years when the verdict is confirmed. He will speak multiple times in June and July at the Club World Cup - but being in the USA rather than Manchester will reduce how many journalists are in attendance.
By the time the season starts again, assuming a verdict does come this summer, any blockbuster Guardiola conference on the charges won't be in the thick of a busy campaign - something the Premier League will be thankful for whatever the result from a purely-PR perspective.
And then there is the impact of the delay on City's transfer dealings. The Blues go into another summer with the charges still hanging over their heads. They have been able to sign players like Savinho, Nico Gonzalez and Omar Marmoush in the last 12 months while also convincing Erling Haaland to sign a record nine-year contract extension.
Haaland said he wouldn't have signed the mammoth deal if he didn't trust the club, so Hugo Viana and City will be able to use their star man's contract as a way of reassurance to any prospective signing. But it would equally help if there was clarity one way or the other.
The priority must be for the right result to be reached, however long that takes regardless of Neville wanting new content for his podcast. But the delay arguably helps the Premier League more than City, especially if the Blues are cleared of all charges.
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