Man City and the Premier League in a defining moment of the English football lock horns, as City club face alleged 115 charges for breaking rules of the competition having recently achieved unprecedented fourth straight English titles. The build up to these charges have created uneasy atmosphere around the club, with the manager, recently said he is happy that finally the charges now set to began, which is scheduled to start on Monday, 16 September 2024. It is a legal moment in English football that will shape and change the whole outlook of the competition, the effect it will have will either improve the league or put it in a scrutiny that would be dangerous for its image.
Man City and the Premier League expected to know the outcome of the case, as early as first quarter of 2025, depending on a lot of factors. World of sports will be watching dubbed ‘trial of the century’ the aftermath will be highly anticipated. Man City have been accused of irregularities that have spanned for 14 seasons, in a competition they have carved a niche for themselves, created identity and dominated for long, if found guilty the Etihad Club might face possible relegation or excommunicated from the Premier League. Man City owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Royal whose businesses spanned across five continents with more than a dozen football teams.
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When the tempo was starting to build around this alleged charges, Pep Guardiola, has reemphasized on number of press conferences that the club have assured him that, there is no wrong committed, a case that will be determined by an independent body, definitely not between Pep and his employers. It will be catastrophic if City are found liable for the wrong alleged against them, it will not only be a sad end to beautiful journey, especially for Cityzens who have turned Etihad Stadium to second home and have solidify over the years their dominance and rightly claim that Manchester is blue as the bragging rights with their neighbour subsists. If discharged of any wrong committed, it will be a moment of vindication for Man City.
A decade ago City were penalised for breaching UEFA financial rules, Premier League authorities are desperate to get over this City’s case that has been hanging around for up to 6 years. The Manchester club have been accused of 54x Failure to provide accurate financial information 2009-10 to 2017-18. 14x Failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009-10 to 2017-18. 5x Failure to comply with Uefa’s rules including Financial Fair Play (FFP) 2013-14 to 2017-18. 7x Breaching Premier League’s PSR rules 2015-16 to 2017-18. 35x Failure to co-operate with Premier League investigations December 2018 – Feb 2023.
As City are desperate to have their name cleared of these enormous charges, Premier League are looking to show the public that, they have system people can trust, despite who is involved. As City risk even relegation if they are found guilty, the possibility of both parties to reach a compromise may be slim. Players and hierarchy around the club will go in every week having these charges at the back for their mind, will it affect their performance? It is a question that will answer itself from now onwards. The most affected people in this period will probably be, the Cityzens, City fans as fondly called, will look to throw weight behind the players as to not to get overwhelmed with prospect of the charges if found guilty.
