Esteemed Kompany
·21 December 2024
Esteemed Kompany
·21 December 2024
The hearing over Manchester City’s infamous ‘115 charges’ case wrapped up at the beginning of December. Since then, the vast majority of football fans have been awaiting the announcement of a verdict in the long-running case. Manchester City were charged in February 2023 for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules. Speaking ahead of his team’s clash with Aston Villa yesterday has Pep Guardiola revealed when a verdict will be handed down? That remains to be seen, but the sooner a verdict is reached, the better it will be for Manchester City and the game in general.
Pep Guardiola was asked yesterday if the uncertainty surrounding the verdict in the case could affect Manchester City’s January transfer plans. Guardiola answered: “I don’t know. It’s going to happen in winter time, I don’t know. I know the people expect that, but I don’t know. I think in February, March will be the sentence, and after, we will see.”
As it stands, there is no way of knowing if the timeline provided by Guardiola is correct. With the confidentiality that surrounds City’s case, there is no way of knowing that just yet. For now, everyone is waiting for a verdict to be announced, but even then, that may not be the end of the saga.
The possibility of Manchester City or the Premier League appealing the independent panel’s verdict remains very much in play. That is all dependent on which way the verdict falls. For now, there has been no indication or leaks as to which way the case will fall. That in itself is a good thing as it shows that the case is treated with the proper legal procedures that it deserves.
Although it is frustrating to wait for a verdict it does appear that all the proper procedures are being followed. We will only know if Pep Guardiola’s timeline he provided yesterday is correct once a verdict is announced. The hope is that it is sooner rather than later so the game can move on from the affair. Manchester City have remained adamant that they haven’t breached any of the Premier League’s PSR regulations. The club has welcomed the opportunity to put the matter to bed once and for all and we are getting closer to that point.