Manchester City have been charged with alleged breaches of financial rules by the Premier League. It is stated that they have been charged with breaching 100 rules from 2009 to 2018.
The Premier League financial fair play rules essentially ensure that clubs spend how much they earn. However, clubs could evade this if they inflate how much they earn or hide how much they spend. The Premier League have claimed that Manchester City have breached these rules by not providing accurate financial information. More specifically the club did not fully disclose the financial remunerations that were made to one of their managers over a 4-year period. It has been suggested that this is a secret contract in which the manager was getting paid much more than what was officially stated. The Premier League also alleges that Manchester City did not comply with UEFA’S financial fair play rules over a 5-year period.
In response to the charges against them, Manchester City are in the process of appointing Lord Pannick KC, one of the world’s most renowned barristers to clear them of any wrongdoing. Lord Pannick KC has previously handled many high-profile cases including when Boris Johnson attempted to prorogue Parliament in 2019 and the infamous ‘Partygate’ case again involving Boris Johnson. He has also defended Manchester City in their 2020 appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He succeeded in the appeal as he overturned the 2-year ban by the CAS after UEFA accused them of serious financial breaches.
Manchester City fans are welcoming Lord Pannick KC with open arms as in their recent game against Aston Villa the fans displayed a banner stating ‘Pannick KC on the streets of London’ and at full time the PA started playing ‘Panic’ by The Smiths. However, Manchester City’s man is going to come at a price as legal experts have said that Lord Pannick KC typically charges £5,000 an hour and has even on some occasions doubled it to £10,000 an hour. If he charges Manchester City the latter and is presumed to be working full time, he will receive £80,000 a day which amounts to £400,000 per week. This would put him on par with Manchester City star player Kevin De Bruyne who is believed to earn £350,000 a week and is currently the top earner in the Premier League.
This is a very serious matter for Manchester City as it can lead to heavy financial fines, points deductions, and even possible expulsion from the league, making it understandable why they are more than ready to splash the cash on Lord Pannick KC.
It will be interesting to see how this case will unfold. If you have any queries regarding this topic or an alternative matter, you can contact us at Lawdit today.
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By Abhiraj Aujla, an LLM Student at Solent University
