Senior figures across the Premier League want Manchester City sentenced before this season ends, and they are saying so to the BBC on condition that nobody prints their names. The verdicts landed on Tuesday. The punishment has no timetable at all, and that is what is making people at other clubs uncomfortable.
Why the clock matters so much
City were found guilty of every charge relating to breaches of the league's financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, including inflating their revenue by more than £900m through sponsorship arrangements the commission described as sham deals. The club denies wrongdoing and has signalled that an appeal will be lodged by the end of this week.
Three years passed between the charges and the verdict. The fear inside other boardrooms is that the sanction phase could take just as long, and that the league spends another season, or two, with a title race running alongside an unresolved case. One club official put the problem plainly: it benefits everyone for this to be resolved as quickly as possible. Asked whether it actually would be, the same person said instinctively yes, but that it has to be done right.
The scenario nobody wants
The awkward part is the one everyone can see coming. City won the league repeatedly during the years the case was grinding through the system. If they win it again this season while still waiting on a punishment, the competition ends in an argument rather than a trophy presentation. A second source said the process should conclude by the end of the season and that any appeal ought to be compressed.
There is a rulebook answer to how long this can take. One section of the Premier League's regulations says an appeal should conclude no more than 12 weeks after it is filed, with a decision following within 30 days of that. Procedures can also be accelerated to meet a fixed deadline such as the end of a league campaign. Ferran Soriano, City's chief executive, has suggested the case will run for a long time yet.
What happens after the appeal
The final call on punishment sits with the independent commission. Both the Premier League board and the club itself can propose what they think an appropriate sanction looks like before the panel decides. City cannot take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, though they could go to the High Court and argue that the process was not impartial.
The league's own statement, which formally announced the guilty findings read out on Monday, said it wants the process concluded as soon as possible. Everyone involved now says the same thing in slightly different words. Whether saying it makes it happen is another matter entirely.
Case context: Manchester City were found guilty on Tuesday 29 September 2026 of all Premier League charges covering the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons, including inflating revenue by more than £900m through sham sponsorship deals. An appeal is expected to be filed by the end of this week. Premier League rules state an appeal should conclude within 12 weeks of filing, with a decision within 30 days of its end. Source: BBC Sport, Dan Roan.
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