{"text":[[{"start":7.68,"text":"An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules over almost a decade and then failing to co-operate with a subsequent four-year investigation."}],[{"start":19.04,"text":"While the ruling has sent shockwaves through European football, legal experts say the case could yet run for several years."}],[{"start":25.44,"text":"What do we know about the ruling?"}],[{"start":28.4,"text":"Very little. The Premier League has made no public comment about the outcome of the case, while Manchester City has said that the process “remains ongoing”. People familiar with the matter said the independent panel had judged that City was guilty of 114 of the 115 charges that had been laid against the club in 2023 by the league."}],[{"start":46.52,"text":"City has maintained its innocence throughout, and it is expected to appeal any decision that goes against it."}],[{"start":52.2,"text":"On Saturday City chair Khaldoon al-Mubarak said: “The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began.”"}],[{"start":64.04,"text":"What is City accused of?"}],[{"start":66.06,"text":"The charges against the club fall into several categories. First, the league said that City had “failed to provide accurate financial information” between 2009 and 2018, for example by disguising payments from its parent company as sponsorship revenues."}],[{"start":80.64,"text":"The club was also accused of shifting some of its costs, including wages for players and coaches, off the balance sheet and on to other companies."}],[{"start":88.24,"text":"As a result, the Premier League argued, City had breached league spending rules between 2016 and 2018, and European-wide financial rules between 2014 and 2018."}],[{"start":100.08,"text":"In addition, the Premier League said that City had failed to co-operate with its investigation, which ran from 2018 to 2023."}],[{"start":108.08,"text":"What are the potential punishments?"}],[{"start":109.84,"text":"The Premier League rule book lists several possible sanctions, including unlimited fines, points deductions, expulsion from the league and compensation for other clubs. The rules give the commission power to impose “any combination of the foregoing or such other penalty as it shall think fit”."}],[{"start":110.34,"text":"What about an appeal?"}],[{"start":125.96,"text":"City has 14 days from the publication of the decision to lodge an appeal against the ruling. There is no set timeline for this process. Legal experts say the grounds for a successful appeal are narrow, and that an appeals board would be highly unlikely to hear any new evidence."}],[{"start":143.68,"text":"“City’s lawyers will now analyse this decision and look at the options open to them to appeal, which may include procedural impropriety, wrongful interpretation of law and legal errors,” said Yasin Patel, a barrister at Church Court Chambers."}],[{"start":158.56,"text":"The club could also appeal against any sanctions handed down by the commission. Everton cut a 10-point deduction to six points through an appeal in which it argued that mitigating circumstances had not been taken into account during the initial ruling."}],[{"start":172.72,"text":"If appeals are unsuccessful, City could take the decision to arbitration or pursue the matter through the courts."}],[{"start":179.48,"text":"Didn’t City successfully appeal before?"}],[{"start":182.76,"text":"Yes. Uefa, European football’s governing body, investigated some of the same allegations of financial misconduct and found City guilty in 2020. It fined the club €30mn and barred it from competing in European competitions for two years."}],[{"start":197.44,"text":"However, the club appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), which ruled that the most serious breaches were either “not established or time barred”. It overturned the two-year ban and reduced the fine to €10mn."}],[{"start":211.14,"text":"The Premier League case cannot be taken to Cas."}],[{"start":214.4,"text":"Could other clubs sue?"}],[{"start":215.88,"text":"Yes, in theory. Those who lost out on Premier League titles and European qualifications could seek compensation, as could those who were relegated from the league during the period in question. There is precedent: after being found guilty of breaching spending rules, Everton were ordered to pay relegated Burnley £35mn in compensation."}],[{"start":235.6,"text":"However, the number of clubs and length of time involved in the City case would make for an incredibly complicated web of legal claims, each requiring its own independent commission."}],[{"start":246.12,"text":"“Modelling the impact of Everton’s overspending in the Burnley case was very complex, and that concerned just a single season,” said Fred Snowball, a dispute partner at law firm Macfarlanes."}],[{"start":256.32,"text":"“A final resolution to the disciplinary process — let alone any follow-on claims — could still be years away.”"}],[{"start":268.72,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790468216_1532.mp3"}