Man City 115 Charges Case Set For ‘Inexplicable’ Next Step After Latest Update
Manchester City's 115 charges verdict has still not been announced, with a leading football finance expert weighing in on the lack of movement.
In February 2023, City were accused of 115 financial rule breaches by the Premier League - with a private hearing taking place in September 2024 and running through until December 2024.
The responsibility for deciding the outcome for the biggest case in English football history, where unprecedented punishments have been touted, was given to a three-person Independent Commission panel.
However, fast forward a year from closing arguments being heard from both sets of lawyers and there has still been no decision on the matter despite a stream of rumours and speculation.
Advert
It has dragged on into the 2025/26 season, with City operating normally and bringing in a raft of new players as well as sealing record-breaking sponsorship deals and increasing the Etihad Stadium's capacity to 60,000.
Pep Guardiola and Erling Haaland have since committed themselves by penning new contracts.
What are the 115 charges?
- Failure to provide accurate and up-to-date financial information from 2009/10 to and including 2017/18 - 54 alleged breaches
- Failure to cooperate with Premier League investigations from December 2018 to February 2023 - 35 alleged breaches
- Failure to provide accurate financial reports for player and manager compensation from 2009/10 to and including 2017/18 - 14 alleged breaches
- Breaches of Premier League profitability and sustainability regulations from 2015/16 to and including 2017/18 - Seven alleged breaches
- Failure to comply with UEFA's regulations, including UEFA's Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play regulations - Five alleged breaches
It now looks increasingly unlikely that there will be a verdict until 2026 but City, who confirmed a settlement with the Premier League over APT rules, made reference to the case in its 2024/25 annual finance report, where the club announced revenues of £694.1 million and reported a marginal loss of £9.9 million.
- If you want to see even more from SPORTbible, make us a preferred source on Google
In its latest communication, City, who strenuously deny all charges, said that the commission "is still in the process of reviewing the matter".
City commented: “In response to the charges, the Club issued a public statement that it welcomes the review of this matter by an independent Commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.
“As at the date of publishing these statements, the independent commission is still in the process of reviewing the matter."
Former Man City advisor weighs in
Following from that statement, Stefan Borson, who has been a regular voice on the topic and was a previous financial advisor to City, has predicted that the decision will pass over into 2026 and no such outcome has been communicated to the eight-time Premier League champions at they time they published their latest figures.
He described the delay as "inexplicable", though nor City or Premier League are not responsible.
"There’s a couple of messages that just say that as of the date of publishing those accounts, that the decision hasn’t been received," Borson told Football Insider.
“Now, it is possible that by the date of publication, they mean 8 October, which is the date the accounts were signed off. But the more natural reading I would argue would be that it’s the date that they were published last week.
“Therefore, it confirms that no decision has been received by the club, which as I’ve said before, my understanding is that is the case and that they have not received the decision of the independent commission.”
“As we sit here today, I think it’s now done for 2025,” said Borson.
“I don’t see that there’s any real possibility that the decision can be dropped before the year-end now. We’re into the Christmas period, where I just don’t think that it would be done from a PR and press perspective at all.
“I think we are now in the 2026 territory, which is obviously amazing. I think it’s largely inexplicable that it could take over a year to produce a private arbitration decision of this type, but that’s where we are.”
On the pitch, City find themselves just two points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal after 17 games.
They take on Nottingham Forest on 27 December at the City Ground.
Topics: Premier League, Man City
Josh Lawless