Sports lawyer Dan Chapman has told TEAMtalk that Manchester City could pursue further legal battles with the Premier League following the independent panel's ruling, potentially escalating the matter to the High Court.

The Premier League confirmed on Tuesday that the independent commission had found Manchester City in breach of most of the financial rules it was previously accused of violating, and also found that Manchester City failed to cooperate with the investigation. Premier League documents show that Manchester City was accused of inflating its revenues by approximately £900 million, which represents serious misconduct for the club.

It is understood that Manchester City's legal team, led by Lord Pannick, has already begun preparing an appeal, aiming to submit it before the 2 October deadline.

Sports lawyer Dan Chapman stated: "Given the statement made by Manchester City's CEO Ferran Soriano on behalf of the club, I think it is reasonable to conclude that Manchester City will seek to challenge the independent commission's decision – whether that be the liability finding or any subsequent penalty decision – and will pursue that challenge in the High Court."

Premier League rules require that such disputes be resolved through an agreed arbitration process, but in certain limited circumstances, an arbitration award can still be challenged in court.

Chapman believes that Section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 could provide a potential route for Manchester City.

He stated: "First, Premier League clubs have already agreed, through league rules, that such disputes can only be resolved using the agreed arbitration process. However, as with any arbitration matter – whether in sport or other sectors – there is a very narrow pathway that allows arbitration issues to proceed into a more public court procedure."

He explained: "The most likely route, arguably discernible from Manchester City's current statement, is what is known as a Section 68 challenge. Put simply, this means one party alleges that the arbitration award contains a serious procedural irregularity, and that this irregularity has caused substantial prejudice."

However, the threshold for mounting such a challenge is extremely high. Chapman further explained: "The bar is very high. Simply demonstrating a procedural error, or that Manchester City believes the commission did a poor job in understanding the vast amount of evidence, falls far short of what is required."

Manchester City has already pursued this avenue to challenge the Premier League in the High Court.

In 2021, Manchester City challenged an arbitration award from an earlier procedural stage of this matter, arguing that the appointment of the arbitrators was not impartial. However, Manchester City ultimately failed in that challenge.

Newcastle United also challenged the appointment of arbitrators in the High Court in 2021, but likewise failed.

However, there are precedents for successful Section 68 challenges in football.

Chapman cited the case between AFC Fylde and Fleetwood Town. In that instance, Fleetwood successfully convinced the High Court to overturn an arbitration award due to serious procedural flaws during the arbitration process.

Chapman stated: "That outcome occurred primarily because, after the arbitration hearing, evidence emerged that the arbitrator had communicated with the FA regarding the scope and content of the FA rules without informing the parties to the case or allowing them to comment on the relevant issues."

Nevertheless, such cases remain extremely rare.

Chapman concluded: "Given the length of Manchester City's arbitration proceedings, and with highly competent legal teams on both sides, combined with the detailed factual findings I have read in the main judgment, it is difficult to imagine Manchester City successfully challenging the decision in the High Court.

"Based on Manchester City's current statements, they appear utterly unwilling to accept such an outcome, or what some might call realism. Therefore, I believe that in addition to all other avenues they might pursue – including appealing the independent commission's liability finding and, subsequently, appealing any sanction – we can now reasonably expect Manchester City's High Court challenge to be inevitable."

Traduit par IA.

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