Man City FFP: Whether appeal against guilty verdict will succeed revealed | OneFootball

An expert in football finance who also has close ties to Manchester City has revealed whether or not he believes the club will succeed in appealing their guilty verdict.

On Friday afternoon, a bombshell was dropped when David Ornstein revealed Man City have been found guilty of breaching Financial Fair Play.

City were being investigated for 115 alleged breaches taking place between 2009-18, and the club have been found guilty on 114 of those charges.

A City spokesperson told The Athletic: “The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality. As such Manchester City FC’s position remains consistent with the club’s statement of February 2023.

“The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis the Premier League board and executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair minded regulator, free from partisan influence.”

Man City are fully expected to appeal the ruling, though according to Stefan Borson, it’s highly unlikely their appeal will succeed.

Borson is a football finance expert who previously worked at Man City, and throughout this case, he’s been a vocal and public defender of City.

But even he delivered a damning assessment of whether City’s appeal will succeed when providing his immediate reaction to the breaking news on X

He wrote: ‘Was told yesterday that decision was in. City have appeared calm according to those in contact with them. Not sure why. Appeal extremely difficult.’

According to Ben Jacobs, the Premier League are ‘confident on a satisfactory conclusion’, but given there’s expected to be an appeal, there’s no guarantee the case is fully resolved and the punishment applied ‘imminently’.

The punishment City will receive is yet to be decided, though all possibilities ranging from a fine all the way to expulsion from the Premier League are in play.

Jacobs added: ‘All other Premier League clubs were informed on the initial ruling on Thursday.

‘Manchester City consider the case ongoing. Appeal process has its own complications and limitations.

‘Comparing the case to Chelsea is largely unhelpful. #CFC agreed a settlement after self-declaring breaches under Roman Abramovich.

‘Punishments could be applied retroactively or be more forward-looking. Points deductions, if applicable, can in theory be deducted while an appeal is ongoing.’