Manchester City’s future in English football does not rest with the club’s lawyers who filed its appeal on 1 October. It rests with three people whose names will not be published before they hand down their decision.
The original independent commission ruled on 29 September that City had breached the Premier League’s financial rules across nine seasons. All the substantive financial charges were upheld, along with three of the four categories of charges relating to failure to co-operate with the league’s investigation.
The commission found that City had inflated revenue by around £900m over the 2009/10 to 2017/18 period through what it called sham sponsorship contracts, allowing the club to exceed Premier League and UEFA spending limits by a substantial margin.
Who picks the appeal board
The appeal is heard by a separate three-person board drawn from the league’s Judicial Panel. None of them may have sat on the original commission. At least one must have held judicial office, and that member chairs the board.
Read also: Gary Lineker rates £51m Arsenal signing Ezri Konsa ahead of William Saliba
Doing the picking is Sir Gary Hickinbottom, the former Lord Justice of Appeal who chairs the Premier League’s Judicial Panel. His appointees remain confidential, and the hearing itself is private until publication of the outcome is permitted.
What the three can do
The appeal board can uphold the commission’s findings, overturn them, or send them back for reconsideration. It can also revisit sanction once sanction is fixed, which has not yet happened publicly.
The Premier League’s rulebook allows reprimands, fines, suspensions, points deductions and expulsion from the competition. Reports since the verdict have speculated about points deductions in the 40 to 50 range.
City’s grounds and the clock
City’s appeal, as reported by Sky Sports, argues that the commission’s decision contains “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact” and is “unsafe”. The club maintains it is innocent and points to what it describes as a comprehensive body of evidence supporting its positions.
Read also: Offical: Harry Kane signs lucrative new Bayern deal as €25m salary details emerge
The rules give the appeal board 12 weeks from 1 October to conclude a hearing that cannot run longer than five consecutive days, and 30 days after that to deliver its decision. That points to a verdict around the third week of January 2027.
City have also argued that the expedited timetable should not apply to them because the charges were brought under the older rules, a position that could push the schedule further into 2027.
Read also: Rafael Nadal wants to run as Real Madrid president
