Manchester City have lodged an appeal against the Premier League's guilty verdict over their 115 charges, with insiders reportedly stunned by the outcome. The club was found guilty of nearly all charges brought against them by an independent commission in a report published last week, which centred on allegations that City fabricated sham sponsorship deals worth £830million.
Appeal process and timeline
The appeal means a new three-person commission will be assembled to examine the case, though it will solely review the original decision rather than rehear the case in its entirety. The three panel members will be appointed by the Premier League's judicial panel, with league regulations stipulating that the hearing must begin within 12 weeks of the appeal being submitted, be conducted over no more than five consecutive days, and a verdict delivered within 30 days of the hearing's conclusion.
Nevertheless, the highly complex nature of the case, combined with the considerable time it has already consumed, could stretch those timescales. A separate sanctions hearing will also be required to determine City's punishment, though it remains unclear whether this will occur before or after the appeal is resolved. City retain the right to appeal any sanctions ruling, and several legal experts have suggested the case could comfortably extend beyond the current season, potentially dragging on for years to come.
City's stance and evidence
Simon Bajkowski, chief Man City writer for the Manchester Evening News, appeared on the latest episode of the Talking City podcast to explain the club's stance as they look to overturn the ruling. He said: "There was a mention that the club had a number of criticisms about the process and the way that the Premier League had brought everything against City and you imagine that would be run again."
He added: "City mentioned an unsafe verdict and reading between the lines it's that it has taken so long for a verdict and how can you be so sure that witnesses were untrue or whatever if you are thinking back two years to when they were on the stand."
Bajkowski continued: "City are appealing the guilty verdicts because they think they have cause and they think they have evidence but also they have paid people very handsomely to be in the room for the 11 weeks when it took place. And the reason why it stunned people at City when they were found guilty of so many things is that these people are experienced in knowing how a case was going and the feeling after those 11 weeks was certainly not 'we've lost on every count.' So there is a sense that a different set of eyes might have a different view."
Core dispute over sponsorship funding
Bajkowski also outlined the core dispute: "But as much as there is process things, there is the core evidence that the Premier League say that City owners or executives secretly pumped equity into the club and disguised it as sponsorship money. And the club say that the sponsors did have that shortfall and couldn't pay it for themselves but they went to the Abu Dhabi government to get the money, so the money has come from the Abu Dhabi government rather than the club, which is not against the rules."
He added: "And when City say they have irrefutable evidence, it is to show that. Their evidence shows that the money did not come from Man City to the sponsors to then go back into Man City's books. It came from the Abu Dhabi government to the sponsors which then paid Manchester City."
