Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Manchester City, Premier League
Josh Lawless
Manchester City's 115 charges verdict has still not been released but a journalist believes their latest move indicates that the club are confident of emerging victorious.
In 2023, the Premier League accused City of 115 financial rule breaches and private hearing finally began in September 2024 before being wrapped up in 12-weeks.
A three-person Independent Commission panel heard the closing arguments put forward by both sets of lawyers before assessing evidence and making a decision.
A verdict has not yet arrived despite suggestions that it would come before the end of the 2024/25 campaign.
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Should City be found guilty, possible punishments include hefty fines and points deductions - but retrospective action does not appear to be a potential sanction.
Throughout the whole process, however, City have maintained their innocence and said they have "irrefutable evidence" which proves they are not guilty.
And the club has continued to operate as normal, spending close to £300 million on new recruits in 2025.
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On Tuesday, City announced a significant business deal as Puma continued their association with the eight-time Premier League winners by signing a 10-year sponsorship deal worth £1 billion.
City confirmed the news on social media, with the caption, "Top of the food chain".
In an opinion piece, journalist Ian Herbert of the Daily Mail reacted and wrote: "Puma signed up on Tuesday to a 10-year City kit sponsorship deal worth £1 billion, as if the evidence in the Premier League case which concluded 221 days ago pointed to minor infractions, not the allegation – which the club trenchantly deny that their success has been built on Abu Dhabi pumping in vast wads of petrol dollars disguised as sponsorship cash.
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"City have certainly perfected the art of the long-term Monopoly money deal during the wait for a decision from the Premier League’s independent commission which is considering 115 charges against them."
Herbert, who previously wrote an article where he said "close analysis of the evidence, and the circumstances of the trial itself" lead him to believe City will win, went on to say that" "no one inside football is even discussing" the possibility of City being relegated and what ramifications there could be.
He added that the "charges seem to have vanished onto the periphery of public consciousness" and are now "stuck on permanent hold" as we prepare for the new season to be kicked off in a month.
In April, Maxime van den Dijssel of Brandsmiths law firm, a sports lawyer who specialises in arbitration, said he believes proceedings could last for "another couple of years” with potential appeals factored in.
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He explained that the significant delay is normal practice given how high profile the case is.
“I’m not surprised it’s taking this long," he told the i Paper.
"It’s common for things to take this long. They have to all effectively sit in a room and decide and go through it, and when there’s that much material, it makes sense that it would take this long.”
Mo Pasricha, a sports lawyer, said he expects "the decision before the start of the season" when discussing the topic with talkSPORT.
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Meanwhile, football finance expert Kieran Maguire stated that for City to be convicted, the commission would have to uncover that there was "co-ordinated lying" between that those high up at City, Abu Dhabi sponsors Etihad and Etisalat, as well as their external accounts.
City kick off their new Premier League campaign away at Wolves on 16 August.