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

English football executives are reportedly pushing for a new investigation into Manchester City after they were found guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of the Premier League and UEFA's financial rules.

City have launched an appeal against the verdict, with the new process setting out a 12-week window for that appeal to be heard plus an additional 30 days for the final judgment. The club have repeatedly maintained their innocence and say they have 'irrefutable evidence' to support their case.

The club were found guilty over financial breaches relating to the time period between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons, and could receive fines, transfer bans or severe points deductions if the appeal verdict is upheld by the independent commission. But executives are now wanting the investigation to span an even longer period of time.

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English football executives pushing for Man City investigation

According to The Independent, an 'increasing number' of English football executives are understood to want the Premier League to investigate City over the seasons since 2018, or potentially bring further charges against the club.

It is claimed that questions have been raised about the independent commission's final verdict, in that it judged City and its sponsors as 'Related Parties' and whether those relationships changed after 2018.

But there is said to be a 'sense' among those unnamed executives that any commercial deals made after 2018 would be viewed as being subject to the associated party rules and had already been assessed at fair market value. There are question marks also, however, over whether that would indeed be the case.

The prospect of an investigation, though, is described in the report as a 'dilemma' for the Premier League, with some in favour of waiting for the current case involving City to conclude in full before any further investigations are explored.

An appeal verdict is expected to be reached within 12 weeks of the initial appeal, which was submitted on October 4, was launched. Leading sports lawyer James Severn told BBC Sport that the club must 'identify a material error of law, principle or fact, or serious procedural unfairness, which materially affected the Commission's decision' in order to win the appeal.

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FRC investigation into Man City already launched

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), an independent regulator, plans to examine City's financial audit after Liam Byrne, the Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North, wrote a letter asking why it had failed to discover City's financial breaches prior to the Premier League's investigation.

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Byrne, who is the chair of the Government's Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, posted the regulator's response on Twitter, claiming it 'exposes gaps in its ability to compel evidence from the club and pursue directors who fall outside its disciplinary rules'.

"This raises serious questions about the powers available to hold companies and directors to account," the MP added.