Photos emerge of Manchester City’s legal heavyweights arriving for Premier League battle over 115 charges | OneFootball

Manchester City’s heavyweight legal representatives have been photographed arriving for day one of their expected 10-week face-off against the Premier League.

The hearing into Manchester City’s 115 charges for alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules began on Monday, after the Etihad Stadium club were first charged and referred to an independent commission in February 2023 following a four-year investigation.

It is alleged that Manchester City breached the Premier League’s financial rules between 2009 and 2018, whilst the club themselves strongly deny all charges and have said that their case is supported by a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence”.

The Premier League has also accused the Premier League champions of not co-operating since the investigation first started, and those within the Etihad Stadium have already told Pep Guardiola’s squad that there is no wrongdoing from their part.

Now, as per The Lawyer magazine in attendance for the arrival of legal representatives, Manchester City’s most notable heavyweights have been photographed arriving on the first day of their trial in front of an independent commission in London.

Lord Pannick KC of Blackstone Chambers was the first lawyer to turn up on Monday morning, alongside Blackstone’s senior clerk, Gary Oliver – both of whom will be representing Manchester City in their case against the Premier League’s 115 charges.

Credit: The Lawyer magazine

Credit: The Lawyer magazine

Blackstone Chambers’ senior clerk, Gary Oliver took the opportunity to issue a thumbs up to The Lawyer magazine’s camera man as he arrived alongside Pannick.

Credit: The Lawyer magazine

Serle Court’s team, also representing Manchester City against the Premier League, were spotted arriving on Monday morning, whilst The Lawyer reports that the Premier League’s representatives “kept a lower profile and appear to have slipped in a side door”

Credit: The Lawyer magazine

Also among the notable arrivals to represent Manchester City was Paul Harris of Monckton Chambers, who also led the club’s successful appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport against UEFA’s two-year European competition ban in 2020.

The private hearing, which is expected to last around 10 weeks, is reportedly being held at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in the city of London, whilst other reports have claimed that clubs within the Premier League are frustrated by the secrecy around the trial.