Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. So far we all agree. But no one appears to be completely innocent when someone responsible has come up with 115 charges against you. And they also involve something that can only be called financial doping. After 6 years of investigation, the much talked about hearing against Manchester City is finally underway in England. THE HEARING ROOM: The case against Manchester City will be decided here. Photo: John Sibley / Reuters Tribunen’s prosecutor’s office The hearing will last at least another ten weeks. It will be another ten weeks or more before we know anything more about how this is actually going. This is how it is when you have, yes, 115 charges to go through – and not least to prove. The number 115 has become synonymous with Manchester City in the 20 months that have passed since it became clear that they have been charged with breaching a number of financial regulations. It has been dragged on until the soon exhausting in all connections City has been discussed. Or tentatively praised. Including when they finally won the Champions League in June 2023. CELEBRATING GOLD: HAALAND: Erling Braut Haaland let both his hair and cheers loose after City won “The Treble” in 2023. Photo: OLI SCARFF / AFP Or when in early summer this year they became the first club in history to win the Premier League for the fourth time at advice. All to emphasize that none of this is won in an honest or fair way. It’s all presented as strongly and as clearly as it can only come from football’s never-resting prosecutor – the fans in the stands. Or from the media. Who has not missed a chance to remind the City leaders what is in store for the last 20 months. Without it having made a visible impression. Manchester City still appear to be something of a football Donald Trump. Apparently quite unchallenged, despite loads of charges against him. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is standing for election to become president for the second time in 2024. Photo: John Locher / AP Alle mot en Now these 115 charges will be formally tested before football’s own court, as this hearing must be called. It is the Premier League that has investigated. It is the Premier League’s legal representative who has appointed the on paper independent panel of three that will pass a verdict on the reigning league champion. It is the Premier League that will bear the consequences of the verdict. And from there also comes the basis for what can be optimism in Manchester’s light blue. At the top of the league’s own website, which tells about the ownership structure of the company behind the football world’s most attractive national league, there is still a picture of jubilant Manchester City players with the league trophy. There we can also read that there are 20 shareholders, in the form of the clubs that play there at any given time. At the moment it is 19 to 1 among the shareholders in the given Premier League. All against one. All against Manchester City. A smiling Spaniard This matter concerns something as comprehensive as the future of elite football in football’s homeland. About who will rule. And who will get to own it. And about a status that everyone is concerned about. Because nothing is more important in this context than income. Manchester City is still not the Premier League’s most attractive sales target. But they are being built up to become so, in an increasingly global market, with completely different demands and expectations than what British traditions indicate. Where you want the biggest and most sparkling stars, not necessarily the club with the richest history or most loyal fans. READY FOR MATCH: The spectators are in place before this weekend’s clash against Brentford where Erling Braut Haaland scored two goals and City won 2-1. Photo: Lee Smith / Reuters In this sense, the Premier League product cannot withstand a loss of Erling Braut Haaland, Rodri, Phil Foden or Pep Guardiola. Not even in the short term. Therefore, in reality, the Premier League cannot live without Manchester City. Therefore, any punishment must be severe – but not too severe. That’s why Pep Guardiola can still allow himself to smile, when he says he is looking forward to getting an end to this case. HIGH CIGAR LEADING: Pep Guardiola could blow out after the club won “The Treble” in 2023. Photo: PAUL ELLIS / AFP The fear of acquittal The question is still most of all what they risk losing if they do not give the Emirates-owned club a penalty which appears as if it actually stings. In other words, how the other clubs will react to what many would call discrimination. Where Manchester City get away with status and extremely expensive lawyers, as they have managed before. In that case, fines will not do, regardless of the extent. Although some have also wanted City to be stripped of titles they have won in the years covered by the indictment if they are found guilty, this is hardly realistic. Perhaps a comprehensive points penalty or a simple relegation will not do either. Ban remains then. From the Premier League or the Champions League or both. Everton have been punished for deficits on a much less extensive scale. So has Nottingham Forest. Leicester were, but got away with legal details when they appealed. A contract that is not one contract A contract was not just a contract at Manchester City, according to the indictment. Or one contract, as in the number word. Because there were always more. Whether it was how much the manager earned, officially or extra via detours. Or who actually paid for the sponsorship agreements the club entered into. When there are limits to how much money an owner can invest in the club directly, one instead only enters into an extremely lucrative sponsorship agreement on the club’s behalf. Coincidentally with a company you also own. Like an airline. Or a real estate giant. The deposit is in sum the same. And no rules are apparently broken. It is not a given that those who will judge after the hearing will completely agree with it. If City are convicted, they will still be innocent in their own eyes. If they are acquitted, everyone will claim they have paid their way out of their problems once again. The cool juice occupies the modern cathedral of the emotional life. The hearings at the International Dispute Resolution Center in London are closed and will remain so. THE HEARING ROOM: The case against Manchester City will be decided here. Photo: John Sibley / Reuters Something that does not exactly increase confidence in the process. But that’s how both parties want it. Maybe then it will all end in a settlement and no one will know all the details. Two legal canons Murray Rosen is the name of the lawyer who leads the Premier League’s independent legal panel, as it is somewhat convolutedly called. He is very central in this case. He is the one who has appointed the three lawyers on the panel that will decide City’s fate. City, for their part, have already complained that Rosen is an Arsenal supporter. Without being approved. It turned out that City’s own lawyer, with the very telling name of Lord Pannick, is also an Arsenal fan. The first consultation week ends on Sunday. Then it is no secret what either of the two sharp-shooting lawyers is busy with. Manchester City vs Arsenal kicks off at 17:30. In the arena openly and honestly sponsored by the airline Ethiad from the Emirates. NEW SIGNINGS: This is what it looked like when Savinho and Vivianne Miedema were announced as new City players. Photo: Jason Cairnduff / Reuters Published 16.09.2024, at 22.48
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