Another holiday has passed without my emergency laptop being removed from its bag. Who knows if it will be the same old story for the next one?
Three sunshine breaks and a couple of weekend trips have all been completed under the shadow of Manchester City finally discovering their fate in their battle to clear the club’s name, following 115 Premier League charges of breaching financial regulations. Once again, the answer to “why have you brought your laptop on holiday?” remains the same.
“One of these days, the 115 charges panel will announce a verdict and it’ll probably happen when I’m lying on the beach.”
It is now almost 21 months since a three-person commission concluded a hearing into the 115 charges issued against City by the Premier League — it ran from Sept. 16 to Dec. 6, 2024 — ranging from failing to provide up-to-date and accurate financial information, breaches of the league’s profit and sustainability rules and failure to cooperate with the league’s investigations. We are still none the wiser as to when City, the Premier League and the wider world will learn the outcome of the most significant disciplinary case in Premier League history.
The process has taken so long that we are now measuring it in life events.
The triviality of my holidays potentially being ruined by the seemingly endless waiting game sums up the farcical situation the English game now finds itself in. But on a more serious note, three full Premier League seasons have now played out since the charges against City were made public in February 2023, and we’re now on the brink of a fourth starting this week with justice — either for City or the Premier League — continuing to be delayed, and therefore, denied.
City have spent £690 million on new players since being charged by the Premier League 3½ years ago and have won six major trophies including two domestic titles and the Champions League. While City (who vehemently deny all charges) have continued to build their squad at a relentless pace, during the same time period Newcastle United have been forced to offload some of their best players to comply with the Premier League’s regulations.
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Elite stars such as Bruno Guimarães, Alexander Isak, Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon and Elliot Anderson — now at City after leaving St James’ Park for Nottingham Forest for a knockdown £35 million in July 2024 — have all departed as Newcastle get in line with the rules Man City are charged with ignoring and breaking over nine years (2009-18).
Those in the City camp would argue, with some justification, that they are entitled to recruit as they wish, despite the ongoing wait for a resolution in the case against them, because they remain innocent until they are found guilty. Beyond the Etihad Stadium, sources at several clubs have told ESPN of their frustration — to put it mildly — at the failure of the independent commission to deliver its verdict after such a lengthy process.
Yet the process isn’t as simple as many might hope or believe. Yes, it may all become clear at a moment’s notice, but it could also drag on for months, maybe even years, and nobody — not at the Premier League or City — knows when it will end.
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ESPN was told in March 2025 that some senior City staff were warned they might be forced to cancel holidays due to an expectation of a verdict. Seventeen months on, the waiting game continues.
But this is no longer merely a Premier League matter, as it is in the hands of the panel and the lawyers, and it is a complex case. And since the commission sat in September 2024, neither City nor the Premier League has had any control over the timeline.
Sources have said there are over half-a-million pieces of documentary evidence including emails, financial records and statements which each panel member has to digest, understand and make a decision on before a verdict can be reached. The three panel members also have other commitments, meaning this hugely important and consequential case is merely one of a number of legal matters for them to assess. They are certainly not locked in a room and told to stay there until they reach a verdict.
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And when, or if, the panel members reach a verdict, their report must then be checked by the legal teams of the Premier League and City before a redaction process takes place prior to publication.
None of these elements can be fast-tracked. Indeed, it is not unusual for a hearing of this nature to take many years to resolve due to the levels of forensic accountancy involved.
City face 54 charges of failing to provide accurate and up-to-date financial information between 2009-18, 14 charges of failing to provide accurate financial reports for player and manager compensation (salary) over the same period, five charges of failing to comply with UEFA’s financial regulations, seven charges of breaching Premier League PSR (2015-18) and 35 charges of failing to cooperate with Premier League investigations (2018-23). It is a lengthy charge sheet, which explains why clubs including Everton, Nottingham Forest and Chelsea — who were found in breach of fewer charges — have been charged, found guilty and sanctioned during the same time frame that City have been waiting to discover their fate.
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The City case is a mammoth investigation, triggered by the publication of alleged leaked emails from convicted Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto by Der Spiegel in 2018, and the hearing was simply the end of the beginning rather than the beginning of the end. And even when the end looms, it should not be overlooked that both City and the Premier League can appeal the judgment within 14 days, and any appeal would need to be heard by a new three-person commission.
What does it all mean? Basically, get ready for more seasons to play out, more players to come and go, and more holidays with the emergency laptop bag before, eventually, the Premier League, Manchester City and the sporting world can look in the rear-view mirror at the 115 charges and deal with the fallout of what will be, regardless of the outcome, the most consequential verdict in English football history.
