Manchester City FC are reportedly to be defended by Blackstone Chambers' Lord Pannick KC; this comes after the Premier League have brought over 100 charges against the football club.
The leading Barrister, who has previously advised Boris Johnson through 'Partygate', is amongst the best Barristers of the day. Though very clearly talented, his work seems cut out for him on this one, with calls from the Premier Leagues other 'Top 6' clubs calling for the team to be expelled from the Premier League. Fortunately, he charges well. Lord Pannick typically charges around £5,000 - £10,000 per hour for his work, this figure alone could match the wage of City's own Kevin De Bruyne!
City will want to fight tooth and nail against these charges, which reached the Court of Appeal in 2021, their expulsion could land them at the very bottom of English Football as the Championship, League One, and League Two are not obliged to accept City into their fold. It seems their preference would be to receive a fine and a slap on the wrist that the multi-billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour can shake off.
His competition is in-house, fellow Blackstone Chambers Barrister Adam Lewis KC, along with Andrew Hunter KC and Jason Pobjoy, is to represent the Premier League in the proceeding, thought to be the most expensive sports law battles in history. Their charges in 2019 brought by EUFA for a similar breach of financial fair play regulations were mostly dismissed due to time limitations but received a €10m fine (£8.8m). However, the time limitations do not exist under Premier League rules.
For those opposition fans hoping for a swift outcome and can only give bad news, there has been no timetable set for the case proceedings and as much as you might think they waste time on the pitch, they have been accused of using procedural applications and opposition to slow down proceeding off the pitch too.
What punishments could they face?
Expulsion from the Premier League
Suspension from playing league matches.
Points deductions
Replay of league matches
Compensation
Cancel or refuse the registration of players.
Conditional punishment
Which Punishment would you like to see?
Expulsion
Fine
Suspension
Points Deduction
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