Manchester City are facing a major legal hurdle after being found guilty of all charges related to breaches of the Premier League's financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.
The appeal now under way is expected to focus on alleged errors in the Commission's judgement and on whether evidence was already available to the Commission when it reached its decision. City say they have irrefutable evidence that the ruling is unsafe, and the club has also maintained that it is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League.
What City must prove
James Severn, a member of the London Solicitor Litigation Association and a partner at Penningtons Manches Cooper, told Sport that the appeal is not simply a chance to bring the case before a new panel. Instead, he said City need to identify a material error of law, principle or fact, or serious procedural unfairness, that materially affected the Commission's decision.
Severn added that the Appeal Board has broad powers to allow or dismiss the appeal, vary the decision or make any other order it considers appropriate. He also said the fact that Etihad Airways was not given the opportunity by the Premier League to be represented, to provide relevant information, or to ensure the accuracy and fairness of information relied upon does not, by itself, establish procedural unfairness.
Background to the case
The dispute is linked to Manchester City's sponsorship arrangements and the club's long-running relationship with Etihad, which has sponsored City since May 2009. Court documents in a US investigation in New York in 2015 stated that the Abu Dhabi government had not paid for Etihad Airways' sponsorship of Manchester City.
That detail sits at the heart of a case that has stretched across nine seasons and now carries significant consequences for the club. If City can convince the Appeal Board that the original ruling contains clear material errors of law, principle and fact, the verdict could be overturned. If not, the Premier League's finding will stand.
