Manchester City: 115 charges saga heads to appeal

Manchester City’s 115 charges case is set to run longer: the process over alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules has moved into the appeal stage, with Sky Sports saying the saga could still last for years.

The update comes after reports that an independent tribunal has already reached decisions, and that most of the charges were considered proven.

The UEFA precedent

City’s long legal history includes UEFA sanctions. In 2014, the club paid £49m for breaking UEFA’s financial fair play rules. In 2020, it was hit with a two-year ban from European competitions and fined €30m (reported as £25.7m) for another breach.

That ban was overturned at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where City were cleared over allegations about disguising owner funding as sponsorship income.

If the Premier League appeal goes against the club, it would not be able to take the matter to CAS again, but there is a “strong possibility” that the owners could turn to the High Court to clear their name.