A football finance expert has hinted that the ongoing case against Manchester City might be stalled by legal teams due to their substantial wage bill.
The Premier League has levelled accusations at City, claiming they breached financial fair play regulations from 2009 to 2018. Additionally, the club faces allegations of not cooperating with the financial investigation.
Manchester City has staunchly refuted all accusations and attended a hearing about these supposed infractions from 16 September through 6 December in 2024.
With the volume of charges being so high, it was anticipated that there might be a delay of several months between the hearing and the final judgement. Fans and ex-players alike are becoming increasingly restless as the wait for the City verdict drags on, keen for the results to be publicised.
During The Overlap Fan Debate, Liverpool great Jamie Carragher and Manchester United’s own Paul Scholes questioned guest Kieran Maguire – a recognised figure in football finance – for an update on City’s situation, to which he provided illuminating comments, reports the Mirror.
Maguire expressed his concerns about the uncertainty of when a decision will emerge, telling them: “When it does come out, I think the big fear is that you get the verdict as to whether they’re guilty or innocent of the charges, but you don’t get told what the punishment is – that could take longer.
“If you look at some court cases, somebody will be found guilty or not guilty, and then the judge goes away and considers it. I think that would really set the cat amongst the pigeons, but in terms of the actual date, I think Pep said that it was going to be in March – well, we’ve got to the end of March and no news. So, how long it will be, we don’t know.”
(Image: YouTube/The Overlap)
Kieran Maguire, who runs the Price of Football podcast focused on football’s financial matters, has commented that the delay in reaching a decision might have a monetary benefit for those billable by the hour.
Maguire continued, as noted by the Manchester Evening News: “You’ve got to think about the lawyers – they’re on the clock. If I’m on £3,000-£5,000 an hour, I’m not going to hurry a decision as to when the result is going to come out. There’s certainly a desire from the Premier League for it to come out [before the end of the season], because otherwise, we’ve got a hangover over the summer in terms of where does this leave clubs.”
He also pointed out a potential consequence if the ruling happens after the season ends: “If it comes out in July, for example, and Manchester City are given a 40 or 50-point deduction, then presumably one of Leicester or Ipswich will be saying, ‘well, if that had come out earlier, then we would have avoided relegation’ – so, therefore, they might be putting in a legal case.”
Maguire stressed that if Manchester City were to be penalized, the magnitude of any points deduction could far surpass previous punishments meted out for breaches of financial fair play regulations.
Everton faced a 10-point deduction, which was reduced to six on appeal, with an additional two points taken off last season; Nottingham Forest also saw a four-point deduction in the same timeframe.
Maguire commented: “The tariffs that we’ve seen from the commissions for both Everton and Forest said the way forward is no point in fining a billionaire owner a few quid – because there’s no disincentive there to misbehave.
“If you read the commission reports from cover to cover, they both say that these were minor breaches of the rules and what Manchester City are being accused of is corporate fraud over the period of nearly a decade.
“So if guilty, you’ve got to add a zero to the points deductions that we’ve seen for Forest and Everton. If not guilty, there’s going to be a lot of trouble. Ultimately, there’s going to be a penalty [if it happens] and that penalty is going to be decided by the commission. If it’s in the form of a points deduction, then it’s got to be a victory for the Premier League, I think.”
