Man City 115 charges delay is embarrassing and a stain on the English game
Three years on and the Manchester City verdict feels as far away as ever. It was on February 6, 2023, that the Premier League landed the 115 charges (that has become the go-to number even though it is probably closer to 130) against City for alleged rule breaches.
Since then, we’ve had a huge legal case, hearings, false dawns, protestations and downright anger and fury at the delay in the verdict. In my view, it brings the whole of the Premier League into disrepute.
It is embarrassing, a stain on the top flight of English football and leaves us all questioning what we can believe. City have quite understandably carried on as normal with Pep Guardiola consistently publicly backing the club’s stance that they will be cleared.
And the rest of us are just left guessing as to whether City will be found innocent or guilty, be relegated, have points dropped or get a mega fine.
It is so wrong to be taking this long. It is not fair on City let alone their rivals. It is not fair on every fan of every club at every game.
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Imagine if City pip Arsenal to the title this season and then get docked points to make Arsenal champions. No-one wants to win the league like that.
Equally, what about those seasons when City pipped Liverpool to the post? The earliest charges relate to well over a decade over and are pre-Pep. How can that be fair on anyone, including Pep?
The charges seem so distant now that they are in danger of becoming obsolete. Honestly, if they were that damning then why is taking so long to reach a conclusion? It almost makes you feel they cannot be that bad.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire suggested that the Premier League may regret landing so many charges because it will then inevitably be long and drawn out when they could have focused on the strongest accusations.
It is worth remembering that the Premier League always aims to have a set time frame and wants to deal with cases within season.
Having said that, even Leicester’s quite straightforward PSR breach dragged on and the independent commission’s full written reasons stretched to 100 pages when published this week. That is one case. We are talking about over 100 with City.
And the point is this case is now out of the Premier League’s control. In bringing the charges, they immediately referred it to an independent commission which also takes it out of City’s hands. Lawyers, barristers and exhaustive hearings and evidence.
There have been ridiculous theories about the announcement made during various international breaks. Last March. Then it was delayed until the summer. Then it was supposedly in October. A few journalists were ready for it to be done just before Christmas.
But if you step back a minute and consider how farcical that is… they’d do it in an international break just to fit the news agenda? Give us something to fill the pages? What nonsense.
It would give City time to digest but it feels we have gone beyond that point. They have carried on like usual and do their new signings worry about the spectre of the charges? Of course not. It’s just become the norm and accepted.
We had a couple of swift departures. Daniel Levy from Tottenham. Tim Lewis from Arsenal. Both executives who tended to be the loudest voices in the room when it came to City at Premier League shareholder meetings. Were their departures smoothing the way for City to be cleared?
The uncertainty this has brought leaves people floundering for clues and little insights. There has been talk in football that City think at worst it will be a fine. But let’s just get this over and done with.
It is hard to believe it is three years. Personally, I think Guardiola has been the best manager in the Premier League era. He deserves the utmost respect. City’s football is fantastic. And yet with each trophy comes a caveat even in our reporting… they are still waiting on the verdict.
It is wrong and unfair on City - and the rest of the Premier League. They should never have entered into this process if it was going to take this long. It is too damaging for everyone.