English football’s independent regulator expects Manchester City appeal to be heard by January

LONDON – The chair of England’s Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has said he expects Manchester City’s appeal after being found guilty of more than 100 breaches of Premier League financial rules to be heard by January.

City, who have repeatedly maintained that they are innocent of the charges, are currently top of the Premier League table with six wins out of six following their 3-0 away defeat of Liverpool last weekend.

No sanction has yet been announced, but City could face a heavy points deduction leading to relegation and there is even been speculation they could be stripped of three Premier League titles they won in 2012, 2014 and 2018.

“The Premier League have said that they want to get this resolved within (this) season, and actually, of course, it’s not the Premier League, it’s an independent commission that’s actually going to hear this, made of three retired either judges or lawyers,” IFR chair David Kogan told Times Radio on Oct 14.

“My understanding is that there is a prescribed process, which is 12 weeks, and so people are assuming this will actually be heard by the middle or the end of January.

“But as I say, it’s not our process, it’s that of the Premier League’s independent commission. What I don’t think we can do is take any judgment until we’re quite clear.”

Kogan said on Oct 13 that he would resign if there was political interference in any future IFR investigation of City.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham was criticised for his comments saying he would be “really concerned” if City’s Abu Dhabi owners left the club following the verdict.

Downing Street subsequently had to backtrack, insisting no one was “above the rules”.

Burnham, who was mayor of Greater Manchester from 2017 to June 2026, has since published all of his dealings with the City hierarchy.

But the case poses a delicate balancing act for the British government in preserving its longstanding ties with the United Arab Emirates without interfering in the independence of the disciplinary action against City.

The club’s owner, Sheikh Mansour Zayed al-Nahyan, is Vice-President and Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE.

The independent regulator has the power to disqualify and remove club owners and senior executives, and force the sale of clubs.

“We’ve had absolutely no interference from anybody since we created the regulator a year ago,” Kogan said.

“We cannot, when regulating football, be subject to political interference on decisions we make about owners, directors or anything else.”

He added: “And I won’t actually be prepared to run an organisation which is subject to that degree of interference.”

Kogan has also warned that the English game is on the “edge of financial disaster” despite booming revenues.

He is set to be interviewed by the House of Commons’ culture, media and sport committee in November.

Manchester City manger Enzo Maresca, who took charge in late June, said last week he “completely trusts” the club and believes it will win its appeal. AFP