A legal battle of unprecedented magnitude began Monday in England between the Premier League and the club that has dominated it for years, Manchester City. A trial surrounded by great mystery and which is expected to last several weeks.
The Premier League, which organises the world’s most-watched championship, believes that the club, owned by the Saudi consortium Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), owned by Sheikh Mansour, knowingly circumvented the financial rules imposed between 2009 and 2018 to boost its sporting ambitions.
Possible exclusion from the championship
Many British media outlets have dubbed this long, unprecedented and spectacular hearing, where the names of the three members of the commission remain secret, the “sporting trial of the century”. The club assured in a statement that it had “a complete set of irrefutable evidence to support its position” and “hopes that this matter will be settled once and for all”.
Sanctions can range from a simple reprimand to the thunderbolt of exclusion from the championship, including the withdrawal of points, with a risk of relegation to a lower division. The independent disciplinary committee, before which both parties are hearing, can also order a stay of execution, if Man City takes certain corrective actions.
115 offences
The Citizens’ case is unprecedented in the scale of the facts alleged, since the indictment is heavy with 115 charges. But several Premier League clubs have already received recent sanctions that allow it to be put into perspective. Last season, Everton were deducted eight points in the standings for having recorded losses above the threshold authorized by the English League.
City will be able to appeal any possible sanction, but no appeal is permitted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the CAS which invalidated the two-year suspension from all European competitions handed down to Manchester City in 2020 for non-compliance with UEFA’s financial fair play rules.
If the club is sanctioned, its unfortunate rivals in the title race in the years covered by the investigation, up to 2018, could seek financial compensation. If the Premier League wins this fight, it could therefore find itself facing huge costs…
Against City, the indictment contains 80 financial offences (period 2009-2018) plus 35 alleged failures to cooperate in the investigation. During the period, the club was crowned champion three times (2012, 2014 and 2018), before then crushing the “PL” and finally winning the Champions League in 2023.
The Premier League said City had breached league regulations requiring the provision of “accurate financial information in good faith that gives a true and fair view of the financial position of the club”. The investigation was launched in the wake of the “football leaks” revelations.
Inflated sponsorship revenues?
The Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) consortium, owned by Sheikh Mansour, which bought the club in 2008, is suspected of having hidden financial investments, for example by inflating the sponsorship revenues of Etihad, the Emirati airline, the club’s main partner with its name on the jersey and donated to the stadium.
The club is also suspected of having paid undeclared salary supplements to some players and to one of its former coaches Roberto Mancini. These are some of the questions that this curious “trial” must address.