MANCHESTER, England (AP) — The biggest challenge to Manchester City’s Premier League dominance was due to start on Monday at a hearing into a slew alleged financial breaches.
On the line is City's reputation and punishment could be as extreme as expulsion from the league.
City, which has won the last four league titles, denies the charges, which include providing misleading information about its finances. It will be down to a team of lawyers to clear the club's name and finally quash accusations that have cast a cloud over its unprecedented period of success.
Manager Pep Guardiola confirmed on Friday that the long-awaited hearing into more than 100 charges of alleged financial wrongdoing was due to start.
“I’m happy it’s starting on Monday. I know there will be more rumors,” he said. “Everybody is innocent until guilt is proven.”
City was accused by the Premier League in February last year of providing misleading information about its finances over a nine-year period between 2009-18 after it was bought by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family in 2008. City was trying to establish itself as one of the leading clubs in Europe, signed some of the world’s best players like Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne and won three league titles — in 2012, 2014 and 2018.
The league's financial fair play rules are designed to ensure clubs essentially spend what they earn and commercial deals are assessed for being at legitimate market value.
The charges came after a four-year investigation and following the publication of leaked emails and documents, likely hacked, that were published starting in 2018 by German magazine Der Spiegel. The documents allegedly showed attempts to cover up the source of City’s income in a bid to comply with Financial Fair Play rules operated by European soccer’s governing body UEFA and the Premier League.
City was also accused of breaches relating to its alleged failure to co-operate with the investigation.
The hearing into the charges will be held by an independent commission made up of three judges appointed by a lawyer who chairs the league’s judicial panel. The hearing will be held behind closed doors, and a verdict is not expected until next year.
Potential punishment for a “serious breach” of the league's rule book is wide-ranging. Dependent on whether City is found guilty of any of the charges, possible sanctions include a fine, points deduction or in “extreme cases, expulsion from the competition” according to the league's rules.
City said it was surprised by the charges when they were made last year.
“The Club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent Commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position,” it said in a statement. “As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.”
Guardiola has repeatedly been critical of the treatment of City.
“My first thought is we are already being condemned,” he said after the charges were made. “We are lucky we live in a marvellous country where everyone is innocent until proved guilty. We didn’t have this opportunity. We are already sentenced.”
Known as Financial Fair Play, the regulations are aimed at preventing clubs from spending more than they earn. FFP was established in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, which deepened worries in European soccer that clubs could go out of business if the cost of player transfers and wages kept rising.
City was fined 60 million euros (then $82 million) spread over three years by UEFA in 2014 and forced to limit its Champions League squad to 21 instead of 25 senior players after violating FFP rules. Ultimately City only had to forfeit 20 million euros of prize money after complying with the governing body's measures.
In 2018 German magazine Der Spiegel published the “Football Leaks” series of articles supposedly based on City's internal documents and communications. They suggested City had broken FFP rules in financial relationships with “related-party” sponsors from Abu Dhabi.
In February 2020 City was banned from UEFA competition for two seasons for “serious breaches”, including overstating sponsor revenue and failing to cooperate with investigators.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned the ban in July 2020, ruling that some UEFA charges were not proven and other evidence was excluded as time-barred. The court “strongly condemned” Man City for obstructing UEFA’s investigation, though a €10 million ($10.7 million) fine was one-third of the original punishment.
___
Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed.
___
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer