Premier League chief executive Richard Masters admits the process has taken longer than expected, with still no timetable for a verdict.
Another Premier League season is about to begin, yet one of the biggest stories hanging over English football remains unresolved, with Manchester City still waiting for a verdict in the case over the club’s 115 alleged breaches of the league’s financial rules.
For Arsenal and the rest of the Premier League, the continued delay means another campaign will start without clarity over a case that could have significant consequences for the competition, with still no indication of when a decision will be delivered.
Manchester City continue to deny all 115 alleged breaches of Premier League financial regulations, with the allegations covering the period from the 2009-10 season to 2017-18.
The Premier League charged City in February 2023 before a three-person independent commission heard the case over 12 weeks between September and December 2024.
Nearly two years on, however, no verdict has been published and there is still no publicly available timetable for a decision.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters admitted this week that the process has “taken longer than expected” but declined to provide any indication of when a verdict might be expected, citing the confidentiality of the independent proceedings.
Masters said the case is exceptionally complex, covering nine seasons and multiple categories of alleged rule breaches. He stressed that it is for the independent commission, rather than the Premier League or Manchester City, to assess the evidence and establish the facts.
When they will finish doing that is anyone’s guess.
He added that the league must allow the panel “time and space” to complete its work and that the only course of action is to “allow that process to reach its natural conclusion”.
Whenever a verdict is eventually published, should any of us still be alive, it still may not mark the end of the process.
Any outcome could also be subject to appeal, extending the timeline further.
At present, there is no indication of what conclusions the independent commission will reach, leaving another Premier League season to begin with one of the game’s biggest unresolved issues still hanging over it.
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