Manchester City are now locked in a legal battle with the Premier League which could have significant impact on Liverpool, Everton and the game as a whole.
The Premier League are predicted to be the biggest losers in Manchester City’s ongoing Financial Fair Play (FFP) hearing, as the case continues. Back in February 2023, Liverpool’s biggest title rivals were charged by the division with 100-plus alleged financial breaches. Everton, too, know all about the FFP process.
Initially, it was believed that City had been charged with 115 breaches but now it appears the figure is closer to 130. The charges date back to between 2009 and 2018, a time span which saw the Manchester club become a dominant force in the Premier League – lifting the trophy four times.
Due to the complex nature of the charges, it took up to September this year for the hearing to begin in London, much to the annoyance of supporters and general observers. While that case continues behind-closed-doors our chief business of football writer Dave Powell has analysed the likely outcomes which will be released in 2025 and, seemingly, none of them look particularly good for the top-flight.
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He said: “There are three outcomes that could occur from the independent commission, and it’s hard to imagine that the Premier League is the victor in any of them. Say that City are found guilty of a significant number of the most severe charges and find themselves subject to the biggest punishment that English football has ever seen, while that might seem like the outcome Premier League is striving for given that they were the ones to bring the charges against the club, it would leave football’s biggest and most lucrative domestic league with some significant challenges.
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“The potential for rewriting record books and having results expunged retrospectively would cast a long shadow over the competition’s recent past. Perhaps more worryingly for the Premier League is the potential ramifications that it has for the broadcast deals domestically and internationally, the golden ticket that the growth and financial strength of the league has been built upon.
“If City were forced to tumble through the leagues it would take out a Premier League champion, a side with significant global appeal that has a world-class, recognisable manager, and an array of some of the most marketable players in world football. Losing someone like Erling Haaland, for example, would be impactful.
“The Premier League wants to be home to the best teams and players. In bringing about the demotion of the best would likely embolden the broadcasters to put less on the table due to their being less high-quality games available to pay for.
“The Premier League would have also created a powerful adversary in City, whose owners’ financial might has helped transform them over the last 16 years or so into one of the greatest teams English football has ever seen. Does it bring about the start of a European Super League conversation again?
“For some time now the biggest clubs have been the ones to be the driving force behind what happens in the global game as they are the ones that drive the revenue for the respective leagues and competitions. Maybe City would find some like-minded clubs to see opportunity in their demise, with Real Madrid and Barcelona still vocal supporters of the ESL.
“Then there is what happens if City win, of course. They would be vindicated in their stance, with the club having pleaded its innocence since the charges were first brought against them.
“It would show the Premier League to be toothless and cast doubt on its ability to govern the league’s affairs appropriately. It would do little to instil in other Premier League members the confidence that they were fit for purpose moving forward after being defeated in such a high-profile case that they brought, and one where they felt they had the evidence and were warranted in bringing it.
“When there are the legal fees that will climb into the tens of millions, potentially more depending on how long the process takes and how many appeals see the can kicked down the road farther and farther. The legal fees for the Premier League come from central funding, which comes largely from broadcast revenue. That would be impactful to all 20 member clubs as it would diminish their central funding.
“There is a third potential outcome, one where both sides meet in the middle, where some charges are dropped and where some are upheld, allowing the City to take a punishment that they can recover from fairly swiftly, and one where both sides can claim some kind of victory. In reality, though, who wins, really?
“This is a high-stakes case. It has potentially far-reaching consequences for the Manchester City, for the Premier League, and for the wider European game. When leagues are warring with member clubs – as has been played out in Spain between La Liga and the giants of Barcelona and Real Madrid – it sees the cracks grow and start to deepen in the game and emboldens those on the fringes who want to change the structure of the European game to do so.
“The UK government will also be watching. There has been some £25bn in trade that has gone on between Abu Dhabi and the UK over the last financial year, and over the years the investment in Manchester real estate and regeneration from the area has been significant.
“This is a case that is being heard behind closed doors and nobody knows what the outcome will be, it is pure speculation at this point. But whatever happens, it’s hard for the Premier League to win.”
