Sounds very disappointing and I wonder why you have had a change of mind?? Nobody from the club would tell you - or anyone else - anything about the case right now.I've learned so much the last 24 hours, that I've had to shift my views accordingly.
I've been stating that the PL have charged us without viewing our "irrefutable evidence", but I now believe I was mistaken.
My evolved view is that since all this started in 2018, the PL have leveled their accusations at City, & City have provided our defence evidence.
It also seems both parties differed on two substantive points.
1. The PL wanted full unrestricted access to our accounts & internal records, but City said no.
2. City wanted the process to be private & confidential, but the Law Courts disagreed & said the process was of public interest.
In respect to point one, City told the PL to be specific about their allegations & we'd provide the relevant defence evidence, as opposed to the PL going on a fishing trip & poring through all our confidential internal business records to see what they could find.
In respect to point two, fearing reputational damage, City wanted to keep the investigation process private & confidential & without leaks, as we experienced with UEFA. The courts disagreed.
I now believe the PL have gone through our evidence, but were caught flat footed by the Government's Independent Regulator for English Football (IREF) announcement in February 2023.
Panicked, the PL rushed out their judgement filled with administrative errors by citing the wrong PL rule book indeces, which they embarrassingly had to correct.
City denied any wrong doing & appealed the PL's ruling, so another three members from the PL's internal 6-person independent adjudication panel were selected to review the charges, evidence & defence again.
This is where I believe myself, & most of us have been mistaken. It took the PL FIVE YEARS to come to their rushed decision in February, so I feel expert onlookers have estimated the appeals process will take at least two years to complete, but could easily stretch to four years!
The reason no information about the appeal is being circulated by the PL or City is because the whole process is private & confidential, & when it's complete, the PL appeals panel will publish its verdict on the PL's website.
The time being taken now isn't because the PL have only just asked City for our evidence, which would take years to go through. I now firmly believe they've had our evidence all along, but because of the volume of PL charge evidence & City's defence evidence that the PL's appeal panel will have to wade through, it could take nearly as long again to review the tribunal bundles.
As always, if I'm wrong I'm more than happy to hold my hands up, & in this latest FFP case against City, I believe I've been calling this wrong.
This post now hopefully adjusts my considered view accordingly.
In Conclusion:
I doubt there's any fresh charges coming, or any new defence evidence being offered. Everything surrounding this hearing has already been submitted & adjudicated on.
The PL found us guilty on 115 charges & City have appealed their verdict. Another three members from the PL's 6-person appeals panel have been selected to review the case again, & this is estimated to take between two - four years.
The PL's appeal panel decision will be final & City can't appeal their verdict to the Law Courts, UNLESS it's to do with issues relating to the actual appeals process.
We know who the PL clubs are who're desperate to get City, which honestly doesn't bode well.
HOWEVER, before anyone starts stringing up a noose, don't forget IREF! This is the spanner in the works none of the old Sky 4, the Hateful Eight, or the PL were expecting.
I'm not holding out much hope the appeals panel will find any different to the PL's original 115 charges, BUT I believe IREF & ultimately the UK Law Courts will, just as CAS did.
It's game on folks & we're in a proper scrap with an organisation run by a cartel of legacy clubs who want us gone.
They tried to strangle us at birth, so their dominance could never be challenged by new money, so just like any progressive business would, City found LEGAL ways around UEFA & the PL's self serving FFP rules.
I believe this fight will come down to UK Sovereign Law vs the PL's Rules. This is why I believe IREF is our only & best way forward. )(
The Premier leagues initial statement had errors relating the the terms but it clearly saysSounds very disappointing and I wonder why you have had a change of mind?? Nobody from the club would tell you - or anyone else - anything about the case right now.
My one query is regarding your comment :
“The PL found us guilty on 115 charges & City have appealed their verdict”.
I was under the impression that we had been CHARGED not found guilty?
Here you go mate:The one alleged breach I have always wondered about is the Etisalat payments. It was dismissed from the CAS findings by time barred but the evidence saying we did something wrongs seems pretty solid. Anyone know something about this that I may have missed?
With the last 4 days reporting it would be easy to think we've been found guilty.Sounds very disappointing and I wonder why you have had a change of mind?? Nobody from the club would tell you - or anyone else - anything about the case right now.
My one query is regarding your comment :
“The PL found us guilty on 115 charges & City have appealed their verdict”.
I was under the impression that we had been CHARGED not found guilty?
I seriously doubt the IREF will be in place in time to help us. More likely it will be set up because of what happened to us! ie when we've incorrectly been found guilty and the club has disappeared. The shock waves will lead to the rushing in of the IREF but it will be too late for us to recoverThis is the bullshit we're facing. ManUre just say "Soz mate, it was an honest mistake", they take a slap on the wrist & it's all good & forgotten.
With City, they want us gone, plain & simple. This cosy private cartel world of UK & European football is as corrupt as fuck.
IREF is our only hope though this, which will hopefully create a fairer more level playing field for all football stakeholders, & not just the elite legacy clubs.
I also feel there'll be another sting in the tail for them. When IREF is finally setup, I can see calls for similar regulatory boards throughout Europe.
This will have a desired knock-on effect that so many different national rules probably won't sync, which will force the European Commission to act & standardise football regulation across Europe, in line with all other business sectors.
Ultimately, Manchester City Football Club will get the independent regulation we've always desired, which will smash the cartel' power that has kept the G-14 at the top of football for decades.
The G/14’s only way out of it? Leave their Association's & setup up their own invite only Super League. 乁( •_• )ㄏ
This time though, you'll have one league of 14 teams playing each other weekly & in whatever bullshit cup matches they can cobble together.
I look forward to matches against Real, Barça, Inter, Milan, ManUre, Arse & the Dippers, but I wouldn't want to be playing against them every week & six times a season each. It'd become a right snooze-fest!
PLUS if players stick with those breakaway clubs, they can kiss goodbye to international football too.
completely taking over our football life and it is obviously they want us gone - & have enough made up shit to do usDraining. And spoil what should be the happiest of times for us as fans
I really think you should stop posting your thoughts because they are coming across as 'fact' and being misunderstood by many on here - in a bad way! Your posts are very depressing which is unnecessary because your points are your opinions - not factsYes, it's why my view is evolving the more I think about things.
It's a complex matter, & without any information forthcoming, we're all having to fill in the blanks, hence why I'm not claiming ITK status, I'm merely trying to connect the dots.
I'm pretty sure my last musings are nearer to the situation than previous ones & make more sense the more I think about it.
EG: I reckoned City had given the PL our evidence & found us guilty, as everyone's believed en masse, when in actual fact all the PL have done is leveled 115 charges at us.
In terms of evidence, City handed over info to UEFA in 2013, only for UEFA to use it against us, & we've not done so since, hence the non-cooperation.
There's nothing to say we've acted any different this time around, hence City have "irrefutable evidence".
Again if it's taken five years for the PL to rush out 115 charges, it stands to reason this tribunal won't be completed any time soon, not to mention an appeal if we're found guilty.
Irrespective of all that, if IREF is setup before the tribunal come to a verdict, do their finding stick, or are they rendered null & void & the case handed over to IREF?
It's all guesswork mate, & I'm man enough to hold my hands up if I get things wrong, & not scared to change my mind based on new info or further musings which make more sense.
Don't shoot me down in flames mate, I'm merely trying to make sense out of all this nonsense. :-)