Manchester City have launched legal action against the Premier League and demanded that the head of the independent judiciary panel be changed amid claims he could be biased towards Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola’s side, who are on course for a historic treble as things stand, have also made unwanted history by being charged with 115 breaches of financial fair play across a 10 year period, it was revealed in February.
“Man City have been charged with breaking the Premier League’s financial fair play rules around 100 times over a nine-year period, which starts in 2009 and goes on until 2018″, Sky Sports reported at the time.
City hit back, claiming that they were shocked at the allegations, and now with their talking done on the pitch, they seem ready to challenge the charges.
That is according to the Times, who report that ‘City have raised the dispute in relation to recent changes in the Premier League’s rules, arguing that they should not apply to investigations into alleged rule breaches before then’.
That is not their only issue, with the club taking objection to the man currently set to take charge of proceedings, Murray Rosen KC, because he is self described as a “member of the MCC and Arsenal FC”.
However, the reigning and soon to be three-time in a row Premier League champions clearly feel that his affiliation with the north London club could represent a conflict of interests, though the Gunners had little impact on the Premier League during the seasons for which City have so far been charged.
No decision is expected to be taken quickly. In fact, it is added that any outcome will not be decided for between two and four years, with plenty of hoops and contested charges to go through before then.
