Timeframe on Manchester City’s 115 charges verdict revealed as hearing ‘paused’ for ‘closing arguments’ | OneFootball

A clearer timeframe has now emerged around Manchester City’s 115 charges case involving the Premier League, and when a verdict on the matter could be issued.

The hearing into the Premier League champions’ 115 charges for alleged breaches of the top-flight’s financial rules started in mid-September of this year, having been first referred to an independent commission in February 2023 following a four-year investigation.

In direct response to the alleged rule breaches which are claimed to have taken place between 2009 and 2018, Manchester City strongly denied all charges and have maintained that their case is supported by a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence”.

The private hearing, which was originally expected to last around 10 weeks, is being held at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in the city of London and is now believed to be approaching its conclusion across the coming weeks.

According to a report from The Lawyer’s Christian Smith, the trial involving Manchester City and the Premier League is due to wrap up in December, with the hearing currently paused as each side prepares closing arguments, which will commence in early to mid-December.

The Times’ Martyn Ziegler has followed by reporting that the case may not be concluded before the end of the ongoing season, with the being a good chance that any appeal would not be resolved before the end of May.

With closing arguments not due to start until early/mid-December, the report claims it could be a further three months or more before the three-man commission issues a judgment on the situation, and any challenge to that judgment would probably take ‘several more months’.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has often been the figure at the Etihad Stadium in the firing line when it comes to the charges, and stated earlier this season, “Hopefully (it) finishes soon. I am looking forward to the decision.”

The 53-year-old continued, “I’m happy it’s starting on Monday. I know there will be more rumours, new specialists about the sentences.

“We’re going to see. I know what people are looking forward to, what they expect, I know, what I read for many, many years. Everybody is innocent until guilt is proven. So we’ll see.”

Manchester City have been boosted by the contractual extension of Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium until the summer of 2027, with the Catalan coach signing on for a further two-years with his former agreement expiring in the summer of 2025.