Man City's appeal date in 115 charges case emerges

Manchester City's appeal date in their 115 charges case with the Premier League has emerged courtesy of a new report.

In September, the Premier League announced that City were found guilty of 114 charges by an independent commission in a verdict that rocked football to its core.

The 40-page verdict, stated that between 2009 and 2018, City arranged "sham contracts "and relied "on sham agreements to artificially inflate the club's revenues and reduce its costs" - boosting their revenues to £900 million.

Man City appeal date emerges in latest update on 115 charges case

City have maintained their innocence throughout the process and stressed they have "irrefutable evidence" this set to be providing prove that it was the government of Abu Dhabi who own the sponsors and not the City owners Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) topping up funds.

READ NEXT: Gary Neville has 'pressure' theory about Man City players following Nottingham Forest defeat

The eight-time Premier League champions have appealed the decision and Enzo Maresca's side being allowed to continue to play games without any sanctions has caused uproar amongst fans of other clubs.

However, a new report from the Financial Times has provided the latest on the state of play. According to the report, sanctions will be handed down to early next year if City are unsuccessful in their appeal attempt.

Citing people with knowledge on the situation, it's reported that the appeal is set to go ahead in mid-December and is expected to last for "a number of days".

As per those close to the situation, another independent commission will be responsible for the verdict, which would be followed by punishment towards City should city lose their appeal.

After the Premier League statement confirming City being found guilty, there have been demands for heavy sanctions to be imposed on City.

Through the Premier League rule book, the independent commission would be able to decide on a punishment, which could include fines, a significant points deductions and even expulsion from the Premier League altogether.

A record 50 points deduction has been touted by some media outlets as a possible sanction, surpassing the 30 points Luton Town were docked in the 2008/09 season.

It is worth noting that punishments imposed will also have an appeal process and there could still be uncertainty with the legal battle dragging on beyond of this season, with no information on when penalties would come into play.

Man City's 'irrefutable evidence' in 115 charges Premier League appeal

The statement from the Premier League and the language used in the 40-page verdict was scathing, but City have appealed the outcome and continue to protest innocence.

In a defiant video message statement, CEO Ferran Soriano said, "The whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation; that the owner's personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi."

READ MORE: New Man City investigation sought by executives as key 'dilemma' emerges

He then added that the club's lawyers "will now file an appeal that sets out the opinion contains clear, material errors of law, principle and fact and that it is unsafe".

Journalist Mike Keegan reported that City's lawyers will argue that no rules were broken as sponsorship deals with government-funded companies have been extremely frequent in the Premier League and are legal.

The claim that money was transferred to sponsors from government accounts, and then used by sponsors to pay City, was previously presented in the initial three-month hearing.

However, the commission said this was "concocted well after the event in an attempt to obscure and conceal the realities of the disguised funding scheme".

The use of the word "sham" to describe sponsorship contracts, as well as the length of time for an announcement and City having more witness, are also set to play a part in the appeal next month.