Man City lose appeal to stop details of the EPL’s FFP probe emerging
Manchester City have lost an appeal to prevent details of the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play investigation emerging.
The league opened a probe into City two and a half years ago following allegations of financial irregularities published in German magazine Der Spiegel.
UEFA and the Premier League underwent separate investigations, with the former banning City from the Champions League for two seasons.
That judgement was thrown out at the Court of Arbitration for Sport last year, while a €30million fine was also reduced to €10m for a lack of cooperation.
The Premier League’s inquiry has continued, however. City objected to the jurisdiction of the commission appointed to hear the case back in 2019 and claimed impartiality.
The league’s rules relating to disciplinary tribunals have since altered and they supported City’s bid for confidentiality that was rejected by the Court of Appeal in a decision published on Tuesday.
City had initially been opposed to releasing specific information to the league’s commission. It is understood that those relevant documents were likely to already have been handed over to the Premier League earlier this year.
A Manchester City statement read: ‘We respect the decision of the Court of Appeal regarding the arbitration matter. This decision relates to ongoing proceedings and we are obviously not in a position to provide comment until those proceedings are complete.’
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Lord Justice Males said in the judgement: ‘The club has been anxious to emphasise before us that ‘the arbitral proceedings relate to an ongoing and confidential investigatory and disciplinary process which is still in its early stages’, and that it may be that no charges will ever be brought against it.
‘While that may be true, it seems to me that this is, if anything, a factor which tells in favour of publication.
‘This is an investigation which commenced in December 2018. It is surprising, and a matter of legitimate public concern, that so little progress has been made after two and a half years – during which, it may be noted, the club has twice been crowned as Premier League champions.’