Man City's 115 Charge Case Begins

Today, we will discuss the Premier League's case against Manchester City, including talking about potential outcomes, punishments and misconceptions.

It has been an interesting week in the Premier League, and today, we will discuss the Premier League's case against Manchester City, including talking about potential outcomes, punishments and misconceptions.

The Premier League’s 115 charges against Manchester City

Manchester City have been charged with 115 breaches of Premier League rules, and if the most serious of the accusations are proven to be true, this could have dire consequences for the Premier League champions. Lets first discuss how this case came to fruition. The first accusations came about after confidential emails were stolen and released to the public by a hacker in 2018, and these emails were used by UEFA as proof that Manchester City had broken Premier League rules. Because of this, UEFA banned Manchester City from the Champions League for 2 years in 2020. However, this decision was overturned by The Court of Arbitration for Sport because these emails did not provide evidence that Manchester City had actually broken any rules, and some recipients of emails had been proven to have been misunderstood by UEFA in the case. The Premier League are now using these emails and other evidence that they have gathered to charge Manchester City again.

What Manchester City have actually been accused of is extremely serious and could have implications for the club. The most serious allegations facing Manchester City are that their released financial information (that is required to be released) was fake or misrepresented actual values. This is a serious accusation of civil fraud and could have consequences of relegation and massive financial punishment. However, what we need to keep in mind is that for a case like this, the amount of proof required to be able to punish Manchester City with large fines and points deductions is massive. The Premier League will need to provide substantial evidence that Man City have failed to provide accurate and up-to-date financial information, and have done this intentionally to funnel more money into the club.

There are some large misconceptions and pieces of misinformation about this case being spread online, one of which has been echoed by big names in the footballing world. For example, Jamie Carragher said this on X in light of the case against Everton: “The PL want a 12 point deduction for Everton for one charge. Man City are going to end up in the National League if the Premier League get their way.” Of course, this is not how any legal or civil case works; not all charges are the same. Many other have echoed the same or similar sentiments on line, but at the end of the day, the only people who understand the ins-and-outs of the court case are the lawyers and parties involved. We also need to consider that Man City are not being charged with the same violation of Premier League rules 115 times; some of the charges are not serious enough to result in a points deduction. For example, 35 of the charges are just about poor communication during the investigation, which is not something likely to result in a points deduction. Of course, the more serious charges need to result in huge punishment if found to be true.

Some key points to take away this week’s newsletter:

• If found guilty of the most serious charges, Man City should be punished massively but proportionally.

• Man City have not breached the same rule as Everton, just 115 times, as some people suggest.

• The Premier League will need massive amounts of evidence to prove that Manchester City are guilty of the serious breaches of FFP that they have been accused of.

• Statements echoed by so many people online like “Man City should be playing in the National League” seem to be based more in bitterness than in fact.

• Manchester City, like any other entity being accused of a crime, are innocent until they are proven guilty.