Manchester City have until Friday, 2 October to lodge their appeal against the ruling that found them guilty on 114 of 115 financial charges. That filing is widely expected, and it is now the engine room of the fight: rival clubs want the appeal squeezed through the new 12-week cap and the full sanction landed before the season closes, with any punishment taking effect from 2027/28.
The independent commission ruled on Tuesday 29 September that the club breached Premier League financial rules across nine seasons, from 2009-10 to 2017-18, with Abu Dhabi United Group secretly funding £830.69m of the £949.94m in Abu Dhabi sponsorship revenue the club booked. The so-called Fordham Arrangement, the panel said, was “little more than a front for ADUG.”
A separate sanctions hearing still has to be held before any penalty is imposed.
The 12-week clock the rivals are leaning on
Several Premier League clubs are using the new appeal regulations as the lever. Appeals must now be concluded within 12 weeks of filing, and league guidelines point to a decision being reached before the end of January. That is the only timetable that gets a final sanction into place in time for next season.
Read also: Pep Guardiola breaks silence after Man City guilty verdict
“The new regulations around the timescale of appeals have to apply,” one club official told talkSPORT.
“We have all waited far too long, and it is high time that this whole thing came to an end.”
Rival clubs want more than symbolism. A separate source told The Guardian the commission has to go further than a one-season drop to the Championship.
“Relegation to the Championship for one season would be insufficient. The commission has to arrive at a punishment that is proportionate.”
Read also: Wenger tribute attributed to Jamie Carragher highlights the burden behind Arsenal’s trophy drought
The Premier League itself has signalled it wants the process concluded as soon as possible, according to BBC Sport reporting cited by Goal, with one club official calling swift resolution realistic but adding it “has to be done right.”
Wyness: expulsion is the long shot
Former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, who has watched a points deduction case up close, has become the most-quoted voice on what the sanction will actually look like. His blunt reading is that the Premier League’s own structure makes expulsion almost impossible.
“There’s about a 10 per cent chance of that happening, a very slim chance,” Wyness told TeamTalk of the expulsion scenario.
“There is no mechanism between the EFL and the Premier League.”
Read also: Essex batter Robin Das charged by multiple counts of rape
The leading outcome in his view is a points deduction severe enough to send City down on sporting merit, rather than an administrative removal. A fine alone, under this reading, is off the table given the scale of the findings.
City’s appeal and the High Court question
Manchester City have said the ruling “contains clear material errors of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe,” and are expected to file by the Friday deadline. A new three-person panel will hear the appeal.
Sky Sports has reported that if that appeal fails, the Court of Arbitration for Sport is not available as a next step. The remaining route would be the High Court.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has said the club’s “confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began.”
Read also: Michael Schumacher accident mystery finally explained 13 years later
Chief executive Ferran Soriano, who refused to answer questions in public after the ruling, told a gathering of European football executives that resolving the case “has taken eight years to get here” and will take longer still.
The next fixed point is tomorrow’s filing deadline.
Read also: Erling Haaland’s reaction to Man City verdict revealed by Norway teammate
