Manchester City have been told by a lawyer and sports barrister that the legal battle against the Premier League is far from over. An independent panel has found the club guilty of 114 out of the 115 financial charges they have been accused of breaching.
This update has sparked punishment theories, with Premier League expulsion and a mass points deduction wanted by many. However, any sanctions being imposed could be some way off, with it understood that City will be appealing against the verdict.
Appeal and Possible Sanctions
The latter scenario is specifically mentioned by Ian Hargreaves, a partner at specialist disputes firm Quillon Law, when discussing City's next steps after the latest update.
Hargreaves said: "The rumoured verdict is not the end of the story but the beginning of a new phase in what has become one of the most closely watched legal battles in global sport.
"The key questions this news raises are what sanction the panel considers proportionate and what guidance can be drawn from previous cases. There is a wide range of options, with a transfer ban at the more moderate end of the spectrum and expulsion from the league the most severe repercussion.
"There is also the question of whether the panel’s decision can withstand a hard-fought appeal, and on what grounds any challenge might be brought. Much will depend on the detail of the panel’s findings and reasoning, which will inevitably be closely scrutinised by both sides.
"The outcome will also have wider implications for the balance of power in European football, although Premier League clubs will point out that these findings relate to historic conduct and not the league’s current financial framework."
Legal Review and Wider Impact
In addition to the appeal being formally lodged, City's lawyers will also be undertaking a thorough review of the findings in search of potential errors, as per sports barrister at Church Court Chambers Yasin Patel.
He said: "City’s lawyers will now analyse this decision and look at the options open to them to appeal, which may include procedural impropriety, wrongful interpretation of law, and legal errors - importantly, they can guarantee an appeal.
"Sanctions could include a major fine, points deduction, relegation or even all three. Factoring in whether titles and trophies should be stripped, whether other clubs have been robbed of further revenue and opportunities due to City’s wrongdoings and losses incurred, we safely say that this is only the first chapter of a long-running legal saga that will not end any time soon."
Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool are the teams to have missed out on Premier League titles during the period in which City are deemed to have gained an unfair advantage.
City do not play for another two weeks, with the extended international break stretching into October, and their first opponents are Liverpool, who have arguably lost out on the most honours to City in the last decade.
