This is the top-secret location of Manchester City‘s ‘trial of the century’ which could result in them being relegated from the Premier League.
City’s trial into their 115 charges for allegedly breaching the Premier League’s financial rules is getting underway today at a hush-hush location in central London.
The independent hearing is expected to last around 10 weeks and City strongly deny all charges, with a verdict reportedly not anticipated until Spring 2025.
Fifty-four of the charges relate to City’s alleged failure to provide accurate financial information about the club’s revenues.
And Mail Sport can reveal that their trial is being held at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in London, just a two-minute walk from St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Man City’s trial is taking place at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in central London
It’s an expensive day out – with prices of £13.95 for a sandwich and £35 for buffet food
Manchester City face 115 charges of Financial Fair Play rules and regulations breaches
Manchester City’s lead barrister for the trial in central London is Lord Patrick Pannick (above)
City’s Lead barrister for the trial is Lord Patrick Pannick of Blackstone Chambers, and he was pictured arriving with senior clerk Gary Oliver.
The self-described ‘finest dispute resolution centre in the world’ is an expensive day out. It will set you back £13.95 if you want to buy a sandwich there, while ‘refreshments’ are £11.95.
Buffet food, hot or cold, will hit your wallet to the tune of £35.
Prices for booking out the main room in the building start at £1,125 per day and can reach £4,845. There are over 70 rooms to choose from.
All the charges faced by Manchester City are serious and if they are proved to have broken all or some of these charges, serious repercussions should be expected.
The charges against the club will be investigated, reviewed and analysed by an independent commission.
Of the 115 charges, City are facing 54 allegations of a failure to provide accurate and up-to-date financial information to the league from 2009-10 to 2017-18.
This allows the FFP a ‘true and fair’ view of a club’s revenue which includes sponsorship deals and their operating cost, which involve player salaries.
Thirty-five of the charges City face relate to their alleged failure to cooperate with the Premier League investigation into their conduct between December 2018 and February 2023.
Thirty-five of the 115 charges are for alleged failure to co-operate with the investigation
A verdict of Manchester City’s 115 charges isn’t expected until the spring or summer 2025
Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto accessed thousands of City emails in 2018 and leaked them
| Type of breach | Number of charges relating to breach | Start date of trial | Date of decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Failure to provide accurate and up-to-date financial information from 2009-10 to 2017-18 | 54 | Monday September, 16 2024 | Spring or Summer 2025 |
| Failure to provide accurate financial reports for player and manager compensation from 2009-10 to 2017-18 | 14 | ” ” | ” ” |
| Failure to comply with UEFA’s regulations, including UEFA’s Club and Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations | 5 | ” ” | ” ” |
| Breaches of Premier League profitability and sustainability regulations from 2015-16 to and including 2017-18 season | 7 | ” ” | ” ” |
| Failure to cooperate with Premier League investigations from December 2018-present | 35 | ” ” | ” ” |
Every club in the Premier League signs up to a code of compliance, which essentially translates to clubs agreeing to behave themselves and provide the league with accurate and up-to-date accounts that are expected to be audited each year.
Over the past few years City have been accused of inflating the value of their sponsorships which are connected to their owners.
Pricing for food and refreshments, as displayed on the IDRC’s website
They are also facing 14 charges for a failure to provide accurate financial reports for player and manager compensation for those seasons.
The Manchester outfit are also facing 35 charges for failures to comply with Premier League investigations from December 2018 to the present day.
It is almost six years since German outlet Der Spiegel published the first of its allegations based on documents it obtained via Football Leaks.
Much of the evidence may be pulled from a cache of emails brought to light by the so-called Football Leaks website, run by a Portuguese self-taught computer mastermind Rui Pinto. City have been adamant from day one that Pinto’s ‘evidence’ was hacked and should be dismissed out of hand.
The Premier League’s managing director Richard Masters (above) has been central to the case
If Man City are found guilty, there is the prospect of widespread litigation from other clubs
Potential sanctions for City could range from a points deduction to relegation. if the most serious charges, relating to the alleged failure to provide accurate financial information, are proven. Everton got an eight-point deduction for merely exceeding allowable financial losses.
The prospect of widespread litigation from other clubs may also ensue. Sides which have lost out on a title or a European place could lay claim to compensation. Theoretically, any Premier League club during the nine seasons in question could argue they are victims.
