Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, has provided an update on Manchester City’s 115 alleged charges with a statement as the club continue to wait for a final ruling
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has admitted he still doesn’t know when there will be a final verdict on Manchester City’s 115 alleged charges.
City have been charged with breaking financial rules over a nine-year period, which started in 2009 following the Abu Dhabi United Group takeover and went on until 2018. An three-person independent commission – which began back in September 2024 – lasted three months and a decision was expected to be made public before the end of that season.
However, City are still waiting to discover their fate, almost 18 months since the disciplinary hearing concluded. It has frustrated supporters, who want clarification on the situation, but Masters is unsure when the independent commission will publish the final ruling.
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“I do accept it’s taking longer than expected, and I understand that people want to find out as soon as possible what’s going on, but I simply can’t provide that,” Masters told the BBC.
“Our rules are very clear – we have to follow the process, and there’s only one real clear route through, which is to allow that process to reach its natural conclusion.”
City maintain their innocence. As part of the alleged 115 breaches, City were first charged for 54 counts of failing to provide accurate financial information from 2009/10 until 2017/18. They also allegedly didn’t provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009/10 to 2017/18 on 14 occasions.
City have been handed five charges related to their inability to comply with UEFA’s rules including Financial Fair Play (FFP) from 2013/14 to 2017/18. Another seven charges are for breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability (PSR) rules from 2015/16 until 2017/18, while the final alleged 35 charges are for failing to co-operate with Premier League investigations from December 2018 until February 2023.
Enzo Maresca, who was appointed as Pep Guardiola’s replacement at the Etihad Stadium in June, was asked about City’s ongoing wait for a conclusion to be made, soon after his appointment.
“No, no, to be honest,” he said about the 115 alleged charges facing City, before adding: “The only thing I can say is that three years ago, the treble season, I was here. And there were the same words about this kind of problem.
“In three years, it’s still the same, so nothing happened. I don’t have anything to say because it’s something that is there. But again, the only thing I can say is that the way the organisation is working is to show how serious they are, how good they are, bringing titles and more things.”
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