I don’t know why people think the verdict is due, there’s not been any indication that it is.
When the date for the hearing was set, there was a body of expert opinion from people suggesting that March would be the time for the verdict. Looking back, I think this was driven by the idea that it offered a realistic timeframe for the hearing to take place and for a lengthy document to be written up substantiating the Panel's reasoning, while serving the objective of coming early enough for any punishment to take effect this season.
I'm not sure that latter point would have been a certainty even with a March verdict, given that there'll be a separate and later hearing to determine any sanctions that may be necessary together with potential for appeals. However, I think that was the logic at the outset and I'm sure the Panel members have been left in no doubt that the parties would welcome as prompt a resolution as they can manage.
I think many of us assumed for that reason that March was a good bet, but they'll quite rightly follow an approach of taking whatever time they think they need to perform the task allotted to them. They've evidently given no guarantees to anyone regarding how long that might be and, as a result, no one's sure.
I've been assuming all along, and I don't see myself as the only one to reckon so, that we'd have some prior notice of the fateful day being imminent when the draft award was circulated to the parties ahead of being issued. However, Stefan commented yesterday that he's been told MCFC expect the verdict to drop without it being circulated in advance. If that's right, then it could drop suddenly at any point.
Is it realistic for them to be ready at this stage, less than four months after the hearing concluded? Well, someone the other day posted the judgment from a 2022 case on similar subject matter and it took over six months from the end of the hearing for that document to be released. Arguably, our case is a bit more complex, which would suggest we wouldn't hear until the summer.
On the other hand, the judgment in that case was circulated among the parties a month before it was issued. If it's correct here that the Panel are dispensing with this part of the process, it will save some time. And remember that, in the High Court, there's only one judge who has the task of writing up the decision while here the Panel can split the task between three of them.
TL, DR - Credible sources in effect suggest that no one save the Panel seems to know what's happening at the moment, so we should stop flapping and accept that the verdict will come when it comes. It's not unrealistic to think that day could now arrive quite quickly, but who knows? And if it's right that a draft won't be circulated (but it's an 'if'), we may receive minimal or virtually no warning. Whatever will be will be.
en.wikipedia.org