It’s been almost two years since the Premier League announced its 115 charges against reigning champions Manchester City. Despite the unprecedented number of allegations, the league has yet to even try to punish Man City. That could be changing very soon though.
The Premier League is set to present their charges against Man City to an independent panel on Monday, September 16. The hearings are expected to last at least two months. For the sake of the Premier League’s credibility, let’s hope it results in some real punishments. If it doesn’t, I don’t see how the league and its financial rules can ever be taken seriously.
‘115 charges’ explained
If you’ve watched Premier League football at all over the last year and half, you will have almost definitely seen banners or heard chants directed at Manchester City referencing “115 charges.” If you’ve made it this far without knowing what that means, here are the basic facts.
In February 2023, the Premier League alleged that Man City had breached the league’s financial rules 115 times between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons.
Specifically, the Premier League says Man City misrepresented sponsorship values and received overvalued sponsorship deals from businesses linked to the club’s owner, Sheikh Mansour. Etihad Airways–who has been the Cityzens’ stadium and front-of-shirt sponsor since Mansuour took over in 2009–is one of many companies who allegedly gave inflated sponsorships to Man City.
The Premier League also says that Man City failed to disclose payments to former head coach Roberto Mancini. Additionally, the club has been charged for not cooperating with the Premier League’s investigation.
Why this case matters
Premier League clubs have broken the rules before and they definitely will again. So why does this case matter more than all the others? Because if the Premier League doesn’t get it right, it’s hard to see it being able to punish another club ever again.
It’s not just us saying this. Other outlets have called the upcoming hearing the “Case of the Century” and a potentially “seismic” moment for the Premier League. I think that’s underselling it.
The case against Manchester City is more than just a breach of the Premier League financial rules. If true, the allegations arguably equate to financial fraud involving several multinational corporations.
It’s not just the severity of the charges, but also the number. Everton and Nottingham Forest suffered points deductions for sole breaches of the Premier League’s new Profit and Sustainability Rules (PRS) framework. Man City allegedly breached the old, more lenient rules 115 times.
Finally, we have to look at this case in the context of the most recent PSR case.
Leicester City allegedly violated PSR in the 2022/23 Premier League season, the same season they were relegated. On paper, it looked like a clear-cut case. PSR allows Premier League clubs to lose £105m over a rolling three-year period. When Leicester submitted their accounts on July 30, 2023, they reported a loss of £129.4m. Like I said, a clear case. It wasn’t though.
At an independent panel, Leicester City’s lawyers argued that, because they were relegated, they were not bound by Premier League rules. Therefore, the Premier League could not punish them. The panel bought this argument, and the Foxes got away scot-free.
This case, besides being ridiculous, showed that the Premier League’s PSR framework is hanging on by a thread. Punishments are inconsistent and the rules are easily manipulated.
If Man City gets off like Leicester City did, you might as well throw PSR in the bin and start over completely. With that being said, after seeing Man City get off, I’m not sure why any club would take PSR or any new Premier League financial rules seriously.
If the Premier League wants to maintain its credibility and avoid opening up this can of worms, it needs to get this case right and issue a fair punishment to Manchester City.
