Suspended sentence is akin to taking a pinch imo. Unless the requirements for cooperation are proven to have been breached, and there are therefore black and white rules in place to ascertain cooperative behavior, then it's not enforceable.
Would then come down to 1) whether the club thought the effort to fight it was worthwhile in light of the fact we would likely face no consequences and 2) whether the club felt we'd been damaged as a business by the process, speculation and outcome, or if the ruling also affords us either than protection, or dissuades such damaging behavior from outside parties
In fact, point two could be valid regardless.
I'll wait for the official line but in a way such a ruling may make sense because, as it stands, we've been accused of monumental and unprecedented charges, which also bring into question the ability and potentially the integrity of our business partners, sponsors, auditors and members of the UAE's ruling family, so the premier league seeking to play it down, now they've realised the stakes, could be their play.
Win and they face having to punish and devalue one of their biggest brands, inviting compensation requests and damaging league integrity. Lose, and they face calls for reform, independent regulation and, maybe, City asking for the compensation.