Manchester City's guilty verdicts in the Premier League's 115 charges case have left the club fighting an appeal, but the verdict also creates a dilemma for the league itself. The three-year legal battle has severely damaged the working relationship between the two sides, and the outcome now raises questions about how they can continue to coexist.
The panel's decision noted that "the proceedings were at all times extremely hard fought on both sides" and that "issues were fiercely contested". The stakes were high for Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, and it is difficult to see how several senior City officials implicated in the verdicts can keep their jobs.
City's limited public response
City can do little publicly as they appeal the panel's final decision. The process remains confidential, so the evidence the club believes was wrongly rejected cannot yet be presented. The chairman has written an open letter to supporters, and the CEO sent a video message to staff, but both were restricted in what they could say.
The leaking of the panel's findings was damaging for the club, as was the nature of the published decision, which contained all the findings but none of the supporting evidence. The timing, during the biggest international break in modern memory, has ensured there can be no footballing distractions.
A strained relationship
The war between the club and the league started cold and has only grown more freezing. After the Premier League waited more than 15 hours to confirm that City had appealed, the club's statement pointedly referred to "the opinion of the Premier League commission" rather than mentioning a decision or an independent panel.
That may offer small comfort at the Etihad, but it will not get City off the hook. Only a complete overturning of the original conclusions on the most serious charges will be enough to see them wriggle free on appeal.
The league's dilemma
The Premier League is in control, and the verdict will have been welcomed by a number of clubs, yet the clamour for expulsion is not widespread. Every member will want to see City punished for their rule breaches, but the appetite for the most severe option does not appear to be there.
That would give the league a problem it has used this case to try to show it does not have: that it can be both a friend and a boss. The league has overseen the trying and sentencing of City through the disciplinary commission but still believes it can work with its members in partnership.
Should City be punished but stay in the league, they are not likely to overthrow the competition, but nor will they forget what has been done to them for offences they still insist they are innocent of. Even if key figures are forced out, that mood is unlikely to change.
For all the power the league holds, the show must go on. City will kick off at Anfield next Sunday as if nothing has changed, and depending on the severity of sanctions, they may still be one of the biggest assets in selling the competition, complete with the most marketable individual in the game in Erling Haaland.
This case has felt like an endgame for certain individuals, yet there is a strong chance both sides must co-exist and work together afterwards for a common goal. Like many things at the minute, that looks like another messy problem that will not be easily resolved.
