Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has said he does not know when the verdict regarding Manchester City's 115 charges will come. His concession chimes with rumblings that City's rivals are becoming 'frustrated' with the lengthy delay.
City have been charged with breaking financial rules over a nine-year period, which started in 2009 following the Abu Dhabi United Group takeover, and lasted until 2018. City have vehemently maintained their innocence throughout.
Timeline of the disciplinary case
The club were initially charged in February 2023. A three-person independent commission, which began back in September 2024, lasted three months and a decision was expected to be made public before the end of that season.
However, the Citizens are still waiting to discover their fate, almost 18 months since the disciplinary hearing concluded. City will get their 2026/2027 Premier League season underway on Sunday against Bournemouth. The game will mark the official start of the Enzo Maresca era, after he succeeded Pep Guardiola this summer. But the club seem to be no closer to discovering the outcome of the case.
Masters speaks on the delay
"I do accept it's taking longer than expected, and I understand that people want to find out as soon as possible what's going on, but I simply can't provide that," Masters told the BBC in the week. "Our rules are very clear - we have to follow the process, and there's only one real clear route through, which is to allow that process to reach its natural conclusion."
As per a report from ESPN, sources at several clubs informed the outlet of their 'frustration' at "the failure of the independent commission to deliver its verdict after such a lengthy process." ESPN reported as far back as March 2025 that "some senior City staff were warned they might be forced to cancel holidays due to an expectation of a verdict." Yet there is still no clarity seventeen months on.
Details of the charges
As part of the alleged 115 breaches, City were first charged for 54 counts of failing to provide accurate financial information from 2009/10 until 2017/18. They also allegedly failed to provide accurate details of player and manager payments from 2009/10 to 2017/18 on 14 occasions.
City have been handed five charges related to their inability to comply with UEFA's rules, including Financial Fair Play (FFP) from 2013/14 to 2017/18. Another seven charges have been lodged for breaching the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability (PSR) rules from 2015/16 until 2017/18. The final 35 charges are for failing to cooperate with Premier League investigations from December 2018 until February 2023.
Maresca responds
Speaking about the charges as City head into the new season, Maresca said: "The only thing I can say is that three years ago, the treble season, I was here. And there were the same words about this kind of problem. In three years, it's still the same, so nothing happened. I don't have anything to say because it's something that is there. But again, the only thing I can say is that the way the organisation is working is to show how serious they are, how good they are, bringing titles and more things."
