Latest news with #PremierLeagueCEO
New York Times
4 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Another Premier League season dawns – with only silence regarding Manchester City charges
Richard Masters sat down in a low armchair and awaited the barrage. The Premier League CEO has been doing the rounds on the eve of the new season and on each occasion has been assailed by the same opening question. The Premier League's legal battle with Manchester City is unresolved. There has been absolute silence in this calendar year. Can anyone, and especially the Premier League's most powerful figure, explain what is going on? Advertisement On his last public appearance in London on Thursday before Liverpool host Bournemouth on Friday evening, Masters wanted to take control of the narrative. 'Obviously it's the eve of the season, everybody's excited,' he began. 'I was in Liverpool yesterday for the season launch event, I'll be in Liverpool tomorrow. Up in that city there's a whole load going on — the champions strengthening their squad, (Everton's) new Hill Dickinson Stadium round the corner. There's lots of optimism in Liverpool and that's across the league as well.' So far, so expected. But even when not intending to speak about Manchester City, the topic seeps into the upcoming season's very fabric. 'I think there's some unique qualities going into the season,' he continued. 'I think that will hopefully give us a really competitive and dramatic season because that's what we all want.' Unique and dramatic? Certainly. Of course, we have been here before. 'Welcome to the season when everything might change, or nothing might change,' The Athletic wrote 12 months ago. Nothing it was. The Premier League's investigation into Manchester City's alleged financial wrongdoing began way back in March 2019. In February 2023, after four years of digging, it announced 115 charges would be brought against City — depending on classification, this could be understood as 130 breaches. City deny all the allegations. Broadly, the Premier League's accusations fall into five main categories: Another 18 months passed until the official hearing began on September 16, 2024. The hearing lasted almost three months, until December 6. On that date, the three-person independent panel were sequestered away to write up their decision. Nothing has been heard publicly since. Six years on from the beginning of the Premier League's investigation, there is still no resolution over the legality of the success achieved by English football's dominant club of the past decade. Advertisement Various theories have been put forward about when a verdict should be expected, but the complexity of this case is unprecedented — while it took around a month for decisions to be reached in Everton and Nottingham Forest's PSR cases in 2023-24, that was for just one charge. City had at least 115. At points, statements from the likes of Pep Guardiola — 'In one month, I think there will be a verdict and a sentence,' he said in February — have put the league's administrators, clubs, and fans on notice. Over this period, every month between January and August brought claims of an imminent D-Day, citing figures close to the process who are, nevertheless, not the three members of the independent tribunal that matter. Outside of them, every date is an estimate. Over the summer, officials at the Premier League remarked privately that they had no idea when the verdict would arrive, but that they were taking work laptops on any holiday they booked. Masters, meanwhile, was on stand-by to return to London from the Summer Series in the United States in the event of any resolution. Neither City nor the Premier League have been particularly forthcoming about their feelings on the case — publicly or privately — but in conversations with lawyers and officials involved, both sides have expressed confidence. That is to be expected and means little — each side has been entrenched in their opinion for some time now. The stakes are massive and much wider than whether City's on-pitch achievements will be undermined. Little news has emerged over what was actually discussed during the hearing, but The Athletic revealed in March that a mysterious 'Person X' at the heart of the alleged wrongful sponsorship payments was Jaber Mohamed, a key aide of Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), now the ruler of Abu Dhabi. Advertisement Should City be found guilty, it raises uncomfortable questions that are wider than the club, not just about the source of the funding for the sponsorship payments, but also as to whether the payments were known about within the highest seats of power in the UAE. When contacted in March, none of the parties involved wished to comment. And on the Premier League's side, Masters is fighting for his own future. Several clubs are frustrated at the way the City case has been managed and have privately expressed the belief that the league's chief may have to resign if City are not found guilty. These are all reasons those involved in the case say its confidentiality regulations are the tightest they have ever encountered. But the silence has meant that City's broader actions have been micro-analysed and are capable of being construed either way. Their spending in January is one example. They bought Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, and Nico Gonzalez in a £180million ($244m) splurge, the second-most expensive winter window in Premier League history. For some, it was evidence that City would be cleared of all charges. Why would they spend this much if they thought a major points deduction was a possibility? For others, it was tantamount to an admission of guilt — the need to spend before any potential sentence. With the legal process for the 115 charges ongoing, City also opened up another tactical front. They took the Premier League to a separate tribunal over what they alleged were anti-competitive associated party transaction (APT) rules — and the panel agreed with them, calling them 'unlawful' and 'void and unenforceable'. The Athletic has explained the full ins and outs here, but the drama is not over. Though the Premier League hastily amended its rules, City are arguing that they still breach UK competition law, and another hearing is scheduled for the autumn. This could spell further trouble for the Premier League, opening them up to the argument and possible legal claim that clubs were materially disadvantaged by unsound regulations. Advertisement Legal letters have been flying between both parties — often made public in a briefing war — though it was wryly noted in June's shareholders meeting that Manchester City did not utter a single word on any topic over the course of several hours. It only adds to the opacity of the past 12 months. Masters is, in many ways, in an unenviable position. Facing battles over APT rules, City's case, and the incoming football regulator, battle lines are being drawn on every side, with the CEO often caught in the middle. Another long-running investigation, into historic financial irregularities at Chelsea, is still live, which could throw the league into further tumult. But much of it is also a PR issue. Under Premier League rules, Masters is able to say little publicly about City's case and is reduced to stating that the process is being run by an independent panel, over which he has no jurisdiction. But under ordinary social rules, in which transparency is generally rewarded, the lack of clarity over the progress of legal proceedings only weakens the Premier League's global image. The latest example occurred on Thursday afternoon, when, after Masters finished his introduction, the questions about the City case continued — and so did the opacity. Was he disappointed that there was still no resolution? 'I really can't comment and there are very good reasons for that,' he replied. 'As you know, our rules are very clear. I can't talk about the process in any aspect between the period when allegations and charges are announced until a decision is handed down, and it would be wrong for me to speculate about when or whether there are any frustrations in the system.' Would the decision eventually be made public? Masters sighed and readjusted himself in his seat before answering. 'This is an independent panel independently selected,' he emphasised. 'And they're in charge of the case. They're in charge of the process and the timings. We have no influence over that. So we have to be patient and wait for these things to happen. Advertisement 'Our rules state that when a decision is handed down at some point, it will be made public. And I'm sure that's going to be the case here.' But these fears are natural. Even if the City decision comes in the season's opening months, an appeal is considered likely. The clock starts again. If City were found guilty, in a hypothetical world, would a points deduction kick in immediately or be suspended until the end of the appeals process? Of course, the Premier League would be unable to comment on that process. And so, once again, here we are. Welcome to 2025-26, the season when everything might change — or nothing might change. (Top image — Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Photos: Visionhaus, Alex Davidson,, Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
5 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Premier League chief Richard Masters urges ‘patience' on Manchester City charges case
Premier League CEO Richard Masters refused to be drawn on questions surrounding the apparent delay to the league's ongoing legal case against Manchester City. City were charged with 115 breaches of Premier League regulations in February 2023, with the formal hearing concluding on December 6 last year. Over eight months later, the independent three-person panel has not released any decision. Advertisement Asked at a media event on the eve of the Premier League season whether he was disappointed with the length of the process, Masters replied: 'I really can't comment and there are very good reasons for that. As you know, our rules are very clear. 'I can't talk about the process in any aspect between the period when allegations and charges are announced until a decision is handed down, and it would be wrong for me to speculate about when or whether there are any frustrations in the system.' Two weeks ago, the Premier League's handbook was updated to include a clause that all judicial panel members would be required to devote 'sufficient time, diligence and industry to ensure the expeditious and efficient conduct of the arbitration'. Later, Masters added: 'This is an independent panel independently selected. And they're in charge of the case. They're in charge of the process and the timings. We have no influence over that. So we have to be patient and wait for these things to happen. 'Our rules state when a decision is handed down at some point, it will be made public. And I'm sure that's going to be the case here.' The executive insisted that this update did not reflect the length of the case against City, which is commonly regarded as the most complex and hotly-fought in Premier League history. 'At all times, (and) it's got nothing to do with any particular case going on, it's just about improving the efficiency of our judicial system,' he said. 'As you know, we constantly bend the rulebook to try and make it more efficient whilst preserving all of the things you need in a properly functioning system.' This has been a testing process for Masters, with Premier League clubs seemingly at loggerheads over the process, a feeling of discord heightened by several high-profile battles over updates to the league's profitability and sustainability (PSR) and associated party transaction (APT) regulations. Masters batted away questions over whether a negative outcome for the Premier League would lead to his resignation. 'You're asking me to speculate on the outcome of the case,' he said. 'I'm not going to do it. That's all I can say.' Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Preposterous that Man City case is overshadowing start of another season
'I'm confident,' declared Richard Masters, 'that by the time we sit down again in 12 months, we can have the football front and centre.' This was 2024, when the Premier League chief executive used his annual summer message to dismiss any suggestions that the inquest into Manchester City's 115 counts of alleged financial-rule breaches – even then a saga of Wagnerian sprawl, a form of Ring cycle for lawyers – was taking too long. One year on, there is still no resolution, with the affair so preposterously drawn out that supporters of all those clubs crushed underfoot by the sky-blue leviathan have now renewed their season tickets three times since City were first charged. We are at the stage where impatience has given way to numbness, to a fatalistic shrug at the mere mention of the number 115. You can tell as much from the weariness of Masters, who said this week: 'My frustration is irrelevant. I just have to wait – legal processes rarely take less time than you anticipated.' There is no longer any emollient message he can offer, with the City wranglings having morphed into a latter-day Jarndyce v Jarndyce, its maddening duration matched by a staging so opaque that nobody is any the wiser as to whether the interminable delays will work in City's favour or not. The only certainty is that the case now hangs over a third consecutive top-flight campaign, scrambling all sense of strategic direction for the league. If the City case is, as we are routinely told, a moment of existential consequence for the game, with its repercussions dwarfing those of even Italy's Calciopoli scandal, how is anyone meant to change how it is run until the outcome is known? It has become a dead weight, a block on genuine reform, benefiting only a few KCs and the spin doctors employed to convince you that two plus two equals five. One tendency in this infernal tale, witnessed throughout the battle over associated-party transactions, was for City – who have strenuously insisted on their innocence on all fronts – to claim an unalloyed victory, only for the Premier League to suggest the exact opposite hours later. The wait has entered the realm of farce. 'It's a disgrace,' says Gary Neville. 'It's an absolute stain on the game that it's still going on. It has been dragging on for years. It's exactly what City wanted – defending themselves, number one, but also pushing it so far into the long grass that you wind up losing the will to live and forgetting about it.' He elicited much the same exasperation this month on his podcast from Daniel Levy. The Tottenham chairman, normally circumspect when speaking in public about any other club, said: 'It has gone on for far too long. It needs to be brought, for the good of a game, to a conclusion, one way or another.' Since last December, when the hearing into the City charges ended, deliberations have rested solely with the three presiding judges. On one hand, you can understand the glacial pace of progress, given that there are an estimated half a million pieces of evidence to consider: 10 times the number that led Nottingham Forest and Everton to be docked points for breaking profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). But on the other, you question whether the two sides furnishing the tribunal with enough paperwork to denude a small Finnish forest is truly the most productive use of the finest legal brains. It is striking how, in the latest edition of the Premier League handbook, there is a requirement for those appointed to arbitration panels to confirm that they are 'ready, willing and able to devote sufficient time, diligence and industry to ensure the expeditious and efficient conduct of the arbitration'. In what world does a case forecast to last until October at the earliest, having started in February 2023, qualify as expeditious? And who in future will be prepared to sign up for a process of unlimited scope and indeterminate length? Amid all the fierce discord this episode has aroused, there is at least one area of consensus: that no single case can be permitted to hold the entire league in suspense for two and a half years again. A certain black humour has been mined from the open-endedness of it all, with one betting company known for its guerrilla marketing putting up a billboard in Manchester this week as a reminder that 247 days had elapsed since the City hearing ended. It is a stunt likely to require frequent updating, with Pep Guardiola's indication in February that a verdict was expected 'within one month' proving laughably optimistic. Most predictions now point to an announcement in October, possibly to coincide with the international window, but the lack of any leaks makes drawing a precise timescale impossible. Before 2026? Before Guardiola leaves? Before the dawn of the next Ice Age? The alternative reading, of course, is that this epic legal intrigue is simply a product of the case's complexity. Simon Leaf, head of sport at law firm Mischon de Reya, says that he is not surprised that an unprecedented case has brought a wait this extreme. Masters, too, believes that the stakes are too high for the judges to be rushed. This cuts both ways, though: if the 115 charges truly reach to the heart of fair competition, then surely there is an element of urgency in unpacking them, rather than allowing the festering debate to overshadow three straight seasons? Clubs need clarity, fans want answers, and still all we know is that the legal fees will end up in the high eight figures, perhaps more. That is before anyone even contemplates appealing. For lawyers, if no one else, it is the gift that keeps giving.
Malay Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Premier League boss: No control over timing of Man City charges verdict
LONDON, Aug 14 — Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said his 'frustration' at waiting for a verdict in a series of financial charges against Manchester City is irrelevant as the case is in the hands of an independent hearing. The Premier League issued more than 100 charges against City in February 2023 related to alleged breaches of its financial rules and with allegedly failing to co-operate with the subsequent investigation. The case was heard by a commission between September and December last year but no decision has been published. The issue continues to hang over the league as the 2025/26 season gets underway this weekend, but Masters said his organisation has no control over when a verdict will be reached. 'Once the allegations, the charge has been put forward, they go before an independent panel, which is independently selected, and they are then in charge of the process and its timings,' Masters told Sky Sports News. 'They hear the case, they decide the outcome, and we have no influence over that, over it or its timing. 'And that's right, if you think from an independence point of view, that there is independent people making those decisions, and we just have to be waiting. 'My frustration is irrelevant, really. I mean, I just have to wait, and legal processes rarely take less time than you anticipated, but we have to be patient.' City deny any wrongdoing and have said they have a 'comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence' to clear their name. But if they are found guilty, they could face a range of punishments, including a severe points penalty, or even be kicked out of the Premier League. City were charged with failing to report accurate financial information for nine seasons stretching from 2009/10 to 2017/18, as well as failing to provide full details of former manager Roberto Mancini's pay between 2009/10 and 2012/13. They are also charged with failing to provide full details of remuneration in contracts with players between 2010/11 and 2015/16, and with failing to co-operate with the investigation over a period from 2018 to 2023. Since an Abu Dhabi-backed takeover in 2008, City's fortunes have been transformed on the field from also-rans to the dominant force in English football. Eight of their 10 top-flight league titles have come since 2012 and they also won the Champions League for the first time in 2023. — AFP
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Premier League has no say on delay over Man City charges, says chief exec
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said his "frustration" at waiting for a verdict in a series of financial charges against Manchester City is irrelevant as the case is in the hands of an independent hearing. The Premier League issued more than 100 charges against City in February 2023 related to alleged breaches of its financial rules and with allegedly failing to co-operate with the subsequent investigation. The case was heard by a commission between September and December last year but no decision has been published. The issue continues to hang over the league as the 2025/26 season gets underway this weekend, but Masters said his organisation has no control over when a verdict will be reached. "Once the allegations, the charge has been put forward, they go before an independent panel, which is independently selected, and they are then in charge of the process and its timings," Masters told Sky Sports News. "They hear the case, they decide the outcome, and we have no influence over that, over it or its timing. "And that's right, if you think from an independence point of view, that there is independent people making those decisions, and we just have to be waiting. "My frustration is irrelevant, really. I mean, I just have to wait, and legal processes rarely take less time than you anticipated, but we have to be patient." City deny any wrongdoing and have said they have a "comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence" to clear their name. But if they are found guilty, they could face a range of punishments, including a severe points penalty, or even be kicked out of the Premier League. City were charged with failing to report accurate financial information for nine seasons stretching from 2009/10 to 2017/18, as well as failing to provide full details of former manager Roberto Mancini's pay between 2009/10 and 2012/13. They are also charged with failing to provide full details of remuneration in contracts with players between 2010/11 and 2015/16, and with failing to co-operate with the investigation over a period from 2018 to 2023. Since an Abu Dhabi-backed takeover in 2008, City's fortunes have been transformed on the field from also-rans to the dominant force in English football. Eight of their 10 top-flight league titles have come since 2012 and they also won the Champions League for the first time in 2023.
