Manchester City will target Premier League history this weekend, when a win over West Ham United at the Etihad will see them win a fourth consecutive title.
That would mark a sixth title in seven seasons and would be the first leg of a potential double, with an FA Cup final date against rivals Manchester United booked in for the following weekend.
There is, however a shadow looming over the club.
Since February 2023, City have had 115 Financial Fair Play charges hanging over them and the whole of English football is waiting to learn what will happen next.
City strongly denies the charges that the Premier League levied against them 15 months ago that cover a range of alleged rule breaches including failure to provide accurate financial information, breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules and failing to co-operate with Premier League investigations.
Details of potential hearing dates and updates regarding any potential punishments have been scarce, with this season’s sanctions against Everton and Nottingham Forest, who have both been docked points for PSR breaches, ensuring that the matter remains firmly in the spotlight.
But according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, City’s case could be heard in the autumn, as he reports that witness statements are being gathered in preparation for the case.
“The expectation within football is that City's case will be heard in the Autumn,” he writes. “That is unconfirmed, though, and the truth is we don't know for certain.
“The various parties have been gathering witness statements in preparation for the case, but that is standard practice and we know very little more at this juncture.”
Plenty of rival fans have complained about how long this process is taking, with Premier League boss Richard Masters explaining that the scale of City’s case and number of charges far outstrips the Forest and Everton cases and is therefore taking much longer.
There are also question marks over when a judgement would be disclosed, with reports claiming that we will not know the outcome until the summer of 2025, while any potential punishments such as a points deduction or even relegation are also unknown at this stage.
Manchester City’s 115 charges in full
Here is a list of the charges that City face, with the club denying any wrongdoing.
- 14x Failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009-10 to 2017-18.
- 5x Failure to comply with Uefa's rules including Financial Fair Play (FFP) 2013-14 to 2017-18.
- 7x Breaching Premier League's PSR rules 2015-16 to 2017-18.
- 35x Failure to co-operate with Premier League investigations December 2018 - Feb 2023.
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