Premier League CEO Richard Masters
Premier League CEO Richard Masters will face scrutiny if there is no proof in the accusations against Manchester City
(Image: Financial Times)
There was a smile on the face of the Manchester City chairman as he promised again that he would talk about the Premier League charges faced by the club once the verdict is in, but for a change he is as powerless as everybody else. Nobody knows when the outcome will be made public, leaving everybody in the dark together.
The seriousness of the allegations make it one of the biggest stories of football and means there is significant interest in getting a resolution. That is why, nearly two-and-a-half years since the charges first dropped, it is still a regular talking point in the game.
City's charges were discussed recently on The Overlap, with pundit Gary Neville making headlines by saying it was a 'disgrace' that there hadn't been a verdict yet. Many share his frustration, although more interesting were the views of football finance expert Kieran Maguire on the case.
Asked for his thoughts on how it would go, he laid out the respective difficulty for the Premier League in proving each of the three main accusations levelled at the club - including one where City will almost certainly face punishment.
"In terms of the effective accusation of fraud against Manchester City, taking money from the club owners and disguising that as sponsorship revenue, Manchester City have to be party to the guilt of that, the sponsors have to be party to the guilt of that, and the auditors have to be incompetent or in on it - and they won't be in on it," he said.
"If that is proven, there will be a very severe penalty and the board of directors of Manchester City would have to follow the same route as Juventus and resign.
"The other issue is non-cooperation with the Premier League. I think that City will quite happily say they haven't co-operated. If they get found guilty of that, there will be a penalty in terms of a fine because it's a fiscal issue.
"The third issue [is] of paying managers and players off-book. It's more complicated but more likely to be found guilty in terms of the burden of proof because the auditors wouldn't be involved because it's a private arrangement.
"Roberto Mancini was accused but didn't attend the hearing because he's under no obligation to do so, so where's the proof? It's really difficult."
A hearing was held for over three months at the back end of 2024 to hear all the evidence that both sides presented, but despite repeated claims that a verdict would be announced it is yet to be. However frustrating that is for everyone, the amount of evidence that the independent three-man panel had to deal with has resulted in a tremendous amount of time that has been needed for a verdict that has to be seen to be the right call.
"It took 14 weeks to hear all of the evidence. I believe there were half a million pieces of written evidence submitted by both parties," said Maguire.
"That means that the commission has an awful lot. They have to get the decision right, but we stopped the hearing in the second week in December.
"We're six months later in to the case and nothing has come out of it. It's frustrating."
--
Here at The Manchester Evening News, we're dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester City coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don't miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get the club's breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.
You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day's biggest stories.
And, finally, if you'd rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Talking City podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.