by - City were already charged with 115 violations of the FFP rules in February 2023
- According to reports, the hearing is now scheduled to take place in mid to late September.
- Get the latest Premier League news straight to your phone via Mail Sport’s new WhatsApp channel
The hearing against Man City over alleged 115 breaches of Premier League financial rules is reportedly set to take place next month.
The club was charged in February 2023 with violating the league’s Financial Fair Play rules from 2009 to 2018.
Premier League chief Richard Masters announced earlier this year that a date had been set, but refused to give an exact date when asked by a government committee.
An independent commission had been expected to begin hearings in November, but the Times reports that they will instead take place in mid- or late September.
The hearing is scheduled to last ten weeks, and the Commission members are expected to deliver their verdict in early 2025.
Man City’s hearing over 115 alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules will take place next month.
City has launched separate lawsuit against Premier League over financial rules
City firmly rejects these allegations and said in June have themselves taken legal action against the Premier League over its financial rules.
The outlet reports that the outcome of this legal dispute is expected to be announced in the next two weeks.
City leaders filed a 165-page legal document claiming they are victims of “discrimination” and that regulations approved by their competitors, which they say are aimed at limiting their success, are the “tyranny of the majority.”
City claims the league’s Associated Party Transactions (APT) rules are illegal and wants them repealed. The club is also demanding damages, which some clubs estimate could amount to tens of millions.
Under the APT law, introduced after Saudi Arabia took over Newcastle in 2021, clubs are not allowed to inflate their sponsorship deals with firms linked to their owners. Instead, all deals must be independently assessed as “fair market value” (FMV).
According to the report, there is a belief that City has achieved some success in the arbitration negotiations.
City, which has won the Premier League four times in a row, could face heavy fines and even relegation if found guilty of any of the 115 alleged breaches of financial regulations.
In response, City launched “unprecedented legal action” against the Premier League.
The hearing will be held behind closed doors as the Premier League’s rule on FFP breaches states that all decisions of an independent commission are kept behind closed doors and strictly confidential.
This means that the media will not hear about the case until the Premier League issues a final verdict.
Not all of the violations are related to financial problems; 35 violations are related to the club’s alleged lack of cooperation with the Premier League’s investigations from 2018 to February 2023.
Meanwhile, City were fined over £2 million by the Premier League last month for delaying kick-offs of matches.
In the championship match against West Ham last season, the start of the second half was delayed by two minutes and 46 seconds
The champions agreed with the league on sanctions for 22 individual offenses, all of which relate to the last two seasons.
City were found to have delayed the second-half kick-off by 2 minutes and 46 seconds in their final game of last season, their victory over West Ham, on the day they won their fourth consecutive title.
Fines range from £10,000 to £200,000, with the lowest penalty for the first offence and the highest for the game against West Ham.
18 of the incidents relate to the resumption of play after the break, with one match – against Newcastle United last August – resulting in a delay in kick-off.
