The hearing may not have been held, but evidence disclosure between both parties will have long since taken place.
The crucial thing here is the courts prefer both sides to hammer out the parts they agree on so they can be removed from the pleadings. If both sides still can't reach a pre-hearing settlement, it's only then you attend court to argue the irreconcilable differences.
Now our hearing isn't a legal proceeding, but if the IC are Barristers, I assume they'll follow the accepted way disputes are conducted & resolved in law. It's done this way to save on court time & costs.
If a settlement can be reached prior to the court date & the burden of costs agreed, this generally suits everyone all round without the need for a costly, time-consuming hearing.
It's not beyond the realms of possibility that this is what's happened. Masters maybe a fuckin dick & patsy for the Red Top Mafia & Spuds, but I doubt he's that much of an arse as to come out in public & state:
"We can’t comment on the case, the date is set. The case will resolve itself at some point in the near future."
After being pressed on whether it would be “damaging” for City to be crowned champions of England for a second time since the matter was referred to an independent commission, Masters went on to say:
"It's not for football authorities to start selecting who they would like to win the league. The key point is that you’ve got that jeopardy until the final day. Who knows where we’ll be on May 19?"
It's my personal feeling that the IC has possibly let it be known that if this were in the Civil or Law Courts, the accusations would be thrown out considering the poor level of accusation evidence offered, & the irrefutable level of defence evidence offered.
Masters sounds like a man who just wanted a cushy job without all this bollocks, but who's now looking for an honourable way out without the PL losing face.
Too fuckin late dude. The Cartel Clubs allowed their utter hatred of City to get in the way of commonsense reality. This is their mess & it's up to them to get on their knees & clean it up.
They've accused City of mass fraud over an extended period of time in all but name & have fuck all provable evidence to back it up outside of their private members kangaroo court.
They've painted themselves into a corner, with no obvious way out. In this respect, the PL are no different to General Melchett in the case of Speckled Jim...
