Manchester City are set to launch an appeal against the Premier League's guilty verdict, based on evidence the league has already branded "untrue." The appeal is expected to intensify the bitter feud between the club and the league, potentially dragging the dispute beyond the end of the season.
City's lawyers will argue that an Abu Dhabi government body, rather than Sheikh Mansour, provided the funding at the heart of the dispute. The club was found guilty of breaching Premier League spending rules, using "sham" arrangements to inflate figures and sponsorship deals to the tune of £900m.
Appeal Deadline and City's Argument
City have until Friday to submit their appeal, arguing that the financial top-ups were provided by the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court (CPC). Chief executive Ferran Soriano said in an address to staff after the verdict was published: "The whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation – that the owner's personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi. This is just not true."
Soriano added: "Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League commission that shows that it could not happen and that it did not happen. This includes bank statements, money transfers, witnesses and everything necessary to categorically demonstrate the money did not come from the owner."
The Premier League's 40-page core decision, published on Tuesday, shows the independent commission rejected the CPC explanation as "untrue" in its findings, adding: "We concluded that it was an 'explanation' that the club had concocted well after the event in an attempt to obscure and conceal the realities of the disguised funding scheme."
Appeal Board and Potential Legal Action
City immediately indicated their intention to appeal on Tuesday evening, saying the commission's decision contained "clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe." The appeal board, appointed by the Chair of the Judicial Panel, will have three members and will hear City's defence, though a complete U-turn appears unlikely.
Rival clubs are also queueing up to take legal action against City to sue for damages following the guilty verdict.
Reactions and Wider Impact
Former England defender Gary Neville said the Premier League has "been dragged through the mud" by the whole case. Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast: "To listen to this, it is chilling."
Neville added: "We always think that we've got an enormous integrity, the Premier League, that we are the sort of league that sets the standard, and that it's other leagues that have got corruption, fraud, doping scandals, match-fixing, referee scandals. This is now coming to our country. This is now coming to our league. This is the greatest export that we have in our country. At the moment we're being dragged through the mud."
The appeal process could extend the case well beyond the current season, with the feud between City and the Premier League showing no signs of abating.
