Man City FFP: ‘Extraordinary’ factor means ‘verdict within weeks’; impact of ‘sanction hearing’ revealed | OneFootball

There reportedly should be a verdict into Manchester City’s Financial Fair Play case ‘within weeks’ due to an ‘extraordinary’ factor.

At the start of 2022, Man City were referred to an independent commission after the Premier League accused the club of breaching over 100 FFP rules.

The Premier League’s four-year probe into Man City’s alleged conduct has led to a prolonged legal saga, though Pep Guardiola’s side have insisted on their innocence and it has been business as usual at the Etihad.

However, if they are proven guilty, Man City face a huge fine, transfer ban and/or points deduction as potential punishments.

The Man City vs the Premier League hearing finished at the end of 2024, though a verdict is yet to be reached, and it remains to be seen when there will be an announcement.

Former Man City financial advisor Stefan Borson has now provided an update for Football Insider, claiming it is “extraordinary” that it has been nearly 18 months since the hearing ended.

For this reason, Borson ‘expects a verdict within weeks’, though this will purely be based on liability and a ‘sanction hearing’ could later follow.

“It’s been very hard to assess where they are with this and why it’s not out yet,” Borson told Football Insider.

“Everybody agrees it should have been out by now. At the end of the season, as soon as the season finishes, you would think it definitely will drop at that point because it will then be the best part of 18 months from the time of the hearing, which is an extraordinary amount of time for a liability hearing.

“First of all, it’s a case of what are City found liable for, if anything.

“If they are, is there going to be an appeal before a sanction hearing? If there’s going to be a sanction hearing straight away, how quickly can that be organised?”

And Borson thinks a second hearing could create a bigger ‘mess’ as it could take months to get through.

“There’s the period between the sanction hearing itself completing, and that hearing in itself might take a month,” Borson added.

“There’s then a period where we wait for the decision of the sanction hearing.

“We already know from the Chelsea FA one, where they had the hearing at the end of November, it’s already taken them four months, and that was only a sanction hearing.

“Even the sanction hearings can have very long durations, so it’s a mess in terms of when it’s coming and when we’ll get a final closure of this. It is really rolling on now.”