Delay on Man City’s 130 charges verdict branded ‘inexplicable’ by financial expert

Jul 23, 2026 - 16:15

The wait for a verdict on Manchester City’s alleged Financial Fair Play (FFP) breaches has been labelled ‘inexplicable’.

A hearing into the club’s 130 charges concluded in December 2024.

A general view of Manchester City's Etihad Stadium — The wait for the verdict in City’s FFP case has been labelled ‘unacceptable’ by Stefan Borson

However, a decision has yet to be announced almost two years on.

Stefan Borson has now slammed the ‘remarkable’ delay for an outcome ahead of the new Premier League season.

City were first charged with 115 breaches of the Premier League’s FFP rules in February 2023.

Those breaches are alleged to have taken place during a period spanning from 2009 to 2018.

A further 15 charges were later added to take the total amount to 130, with a hearing held between September and December 2024.

With the verdict yet to be announced, Borson provided an update on Thursday.

City charges update

The football finance expert and regular talkSPORT guest joined Alex Crook and Darragh MacAnthony live on air.

Following a text from a Manchester United fan relating to the charges, Borson was asked for the latest on a potential decision.

He explained: “The general feeling around the industry is that there’s been no decision yet, as remarkable as that is. 19 months on, 20 months on almost, still no decision.

“Totally unacceptable, of course, beyond all of the parties’ expectations about when they would receive a decision. Broadly inexplicable by any sport of norms in these sorts of matters.

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak looks on before their Champions League match against Inter Milan — Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and City have been awaiting a verdict since the hearing concluded in December

“But these cases are taking a very long time. I mean, you do also have a situation with the Chelsea charges from the FA. That was a hearing that was held in November.

“It was a sanction-only hearing, a very simple hearing and we’re still waiting for that, and that’s been sort of eight or nine months.

“So I don’t really know what’s going on with these cases in terms of the timings and why they’re so elongated, but they’re completely out of the realms of normality. Most decisions are in way before this.”

Chelsea are still awaiting the outcome of an FA hearing into 74 breaches of rules relating to football agents.

It comes after the club were fined £10.75million for the offences by the Premier League in March.

Borson on potential outcome

When asked what he expects the outcome for City to be, Borson added: “It’s very hard to get off the fence. The reality is it’s extremely hard to prove the allegations that have been made.

Stefan Borson speaks live to talkSPORT — Borson has provided a fresh update on City’s 130 charges for alleged FFP breaches

“I think just in the behaviour of Manchester City, since the hearing itself in particular.

“The spending and the level of confidence that they’re portraying, the signature of numerous contracts, the fact that a manager was prepared to move from Chelsea, the fact that they’ve built a £400million stadium and facility at one end of the ground.

“Every signal that the club has given in terms of its spending and its putting its money where its mouth is, suggests that they feel that they’ve won.

“But of course, all of these cases are very difficult to predict because litigation is something that even the best cases can lose and you should never be too certain about the outcome of any of those cases.”

As for if his prediction is that the club will be found innocent, he said: “It’s more likely that City will prevail given the behaviours and given the face that what’s alleged is inherently unlikely.

“But of course, if they’ve done it, as I’ve said many times, the punishment will be extremely severe and this won’t be about transfer bans or things around the edges.