UEFA will wait for the Premier League case on Manchester City

Manchester City are appealing. After the verdict was published on 29 September, the club said it was innocent. It said the commission's opinion contained clear material errors of law, principle and fact, and that it has a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence.

UEFA has dealt with the club before. In 2020 it found Manchester City guilty of breaking its Financial Fair Play rules, fined them €30m and banned them from European competitions for two years. The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the ban and cut the fine to €10m, for failing to co-operate with the investigation. It said most of the alleged breaches were either not established or time barred. UEFA has a five-year statute of limitations for financial rule breaches, and the Premier League has none. The Premier League investigation also had documents and evidence that UEFA did not have in 2020.

Under the Premier League's new rules, the appeal stage must finish within 12 weeks, which runs into the week before Christmas. The hearing can last five days in one block, before a different three-person panel from the original one. That panel then has 30 days to deliver its judgement, which would take the case into the third week of January.

The club could argue that this faster timetable should not apply. It was charged in 2023 and heard in 2024, before the timetable was in the Premier League Handbook. A legal expert said Manchester City would have a strong case for that argument. If it succeeded, the appeal could run into next year.