“Time to breathe,” Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca posted on social media on Friday afternoon. Moments afterwards, there were many at the Etihad gasping for air as reports emerged that the club are anticipated to be found guilty of the majority of charges in the 115 case that has loomed over English football for more than three years.
Naturally, those at the helm of the City Football Academy were aware this was approaching – as were the remaining Premier League clubs following briefings at a shareholder meeting this week.
Yet it remained explosive news – just as when the charges initially surfaced in 2023 and when UEFA attempted to ban City from the Champions League – and the consequences could prove devastating for City’s ambitions of preserving their standing in global football.
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Such widespread guilty findings would prove far more damaging than what most observers anticipated, precisely because the allegations were so serious, reports the Manchester Evening News.
City declared from the beginning that they possessed an “irrefutable body of evidence” to defend their stance, and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has projected confidence whenever addressing the issue.
Some of the finest legal minds have been compensated generously to present that defence, yet City seemingly face a comprehensive defeat to the Premier League in what would plunge the club into bewildering chaos.
Their previous accomplishments will be regarded as illegitimate by the majority and their future appears uncertain awaiting a harsh punishment that could even see City relegated. As matters stand, it doesn’t seem like City could be in a much worse situation.
Losing virtually every argument in the view of an expert three-man panel pushes the Blues towards the abyss of any reality in which they are permitted to continue as one of the most influential clubs in the sport
That is, it must be noted, getting ahead of the circumstances. The ruling has not even been revealed publicly yet, a club representative mentioned “significant elements” of the proceedings that remain active and City would challenge any charges they are deemed guilty of.
Such a hearing would not commence for several months yet, so having waited for eight years from when the investigation began it is not expected to finish imminently. That challenge would be determined by a senior judge and City will stay confident in their stance until the final decision.
Having remained silent throughout the proceedings, there has been frustration again at the Etihad that a partial account has been disclosed that appears damning for them.
It won’t matter if it’s true or not, and in the meantime, there will be more conjecture about what City’s downfall might look like and increased pressure from clubs baying for blood.
Liverpool will argue they were unjustly denied multiple Premier League titles, but every spot in the table carries prize money, and there may even be clubs that have been relegated over the past 18 years contemplating some form of compensation.
Then there’s the issue of the league itself, with chief executive Richard Masters effectively staking his reputation and position on the outcome of this case.
The Premier League wants to be perceived as capable of governing its own members and has suffered some bruising encounters with City over Associated Party Transactions in recent years, so they’ll want to portray the most resounding defeat possible for City.
Based on the leaked verdict, all parties eager to see City penalised now have renewed justification to do so. Pep Guardiola stated that City had been ‘condemned’ by the football world before they’d been given a chance to defend themselves.
Yet if they are found guilty at the end of a gruelling and costly process, then the mob will have been correct and will be fully entitled to demand justice.
Perhaps it will mirror the UEFA investigation, when what was touted as a sure thing was actually reversed on appeal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) due to insufficient evidence from UEFA.
This situation feels distinct though, particularly following the millions of pages of evidence that have been examined and the 21 months after a 12-week hearing it has taken the panel to deliver their decisions.
City are still in the game, but their time at the summit is dwindling unless there’s a dramatic twist of fate as focus shifts once more to how they should be penalised.