Manchester City and the Premier League still await the verdict from their ten-week hearing held in front of an independent panel that took place at the end of last year
Manchester City may have to wait until late June before finding out the verdict of their Premier League charges.
A decision is said to be due soon, but because of the vagueness surrounding any announcement, it could still take another three months to come out. Pep Guardiola has previously suggested March would be when City find out, but that now appears unlikely with April approaching.
That, instead, was seemingly the earlier end of the club’s expectation. As previously reported by The Athletic and others, spring was said to be when City expected news on the outcome of their hearing. Their football correspondent, David Ornstein, addressed the situation on Wednesday.
“People have been saying things like ‘imminent’, ‘this week’, and ‘tomorrow’ for ages now, and that shows most of us simply don’t know – probably only a small number involved in the process do,” he acknowledged.
“As I and others have reported previously, the expectation at City has been ‘spring’, and if that’s the case, we’re there now… however it would also mean we could be waiting until late June!
“Plus, as long as we don’t have anything firm from the PL, City or other parties privy to the matter, it’s largely speculation and perhaps subject to change.
“Another thing we don’t know is the nature of the announcement. So, will the verdict be as black and white as many are anticipating? Could it be an anti-climax? How much detail will there be to sift through? What are the next steps? Will there be appeals, and how long could they take? You suspect this process is nowhere near finished yet.”
As alluded to by Ornstein, spring does not end until June 21 according to astronomical seasons. That makes it another three weeks later than the meteorological calendar on May 31.