The long-awaited hearing by the Premier League into Manchester City’s 115 charges bordering on breaking financial fair play rules will begin on Monday.
City have been charged with fractions spanning over nine-year period, starting from 2009 until 2018.
According to the Premier League, Man City broke the rules over nine seasons by allegedly failing to provide accurate financial information.
Among the charges against City are that they did not fully disclose the financial remunerations made to one of their managers in over a four-year period.
The suggestion is that there was a secret contract so one of the managers was getting paid much more than officially stated.
Premier League also alleged that City did not comply with UEFA’s financial fair play rules over a five-year period.
They also alleged City have not fully co-operated with the Premier League’s investigation.
According to Premier League rules, punishments for violation could be points deduction or expulsion from the Premier League, although this would be on the extreme.
A decision from the independent commission is unlikely to be made public before the spring.
Premier League’s Chief Executive Richard Masters said the matter has to be resolved.
It is expected that the formal hearing with the independent commission will go on for up to two months, with both the Premier League and City making legal representations to outline their cases.
The independent commission will then review all the evidence before making their decision and this process is expected to take several months in view of the volume of charges, and the amount of information to be reviewed.
A decision by the commission may not be made public until March 2025 or a later time when its conclusion is expected to be published.
In the event that the Commission found City wanted, the club still have the opportunity to apoeal its decision.