Sources: Major Man City scandal update amid fears of Downing Street intervention
Premier League clubs are privately confident that state-to-state diplomacy will have no influence on the case against Man City, sources have told Football Insider.
The charges against City will be ruled on by an independent three-person commission selected by Murray Rosen KC, the head honcho of the Premier League’s judicial panel.
Rosen has a pool of 15 judicial panel members from which to nominate, all of whom are either third-party legal professionals, accountants or auditors.
But despite the autonomous makeup of the panel, some commentators have expressed concerns about the role the UK government’s relationship with Abu Dhabi – City’s de-facto owners – might play in proceedings.
Trade between the UK and the United Arab Emirates totalled £15.1billion in 2022, and the connection between the two has been described by officials from both nations as a “special relationship.”
Although it has made official claims to the contrary, it is now widely accepted that the UK government leaned heavily on the Premier League to green-light the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s takeover of Newcastle United.
But a source familiar with internal operations at the Premier League insists that there is genuine confidence that the arbitration process will be entirely independent.
The fact that the controversial Newcastle deal was approved at an executive level rather than by a judicial delegation makes it qualitatively different to City’s battle against the Premier League, it is claimed.
Football Insider also understands that the government department for Digitial, Culture, Media and Sport has no plans to rewrite the imminent white paper on independent football regulation in response to the charges against City.
Many have suggested that the Premier League’s announcement, which came days before the now-delayed white paper proposal was due, was a deliberate play to prove it can self-govern without the need for third-party involvement.
The independent commission theoretically has the power to relegate City, dock them of points, impose a transfer ban, or issue them with an unlimited cash fine – but it could take up to four years before the case reaches its crescendo.
City have already begun assembling an all-star legal team to defend the charges, headed up by Lord David Pannick KC.
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