Man City charges: Do Premier League club have grounds for their appeal?
Manchester City face "substantial hurdles" if they are to have any chance of winning their appeal after being found guilty of breaking the Premier League's financial rules, a leading lawyer has told BBC Sport. City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of the Premier League's financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, and creating "sham contracts" to inflate sponsorship deals by £830m.
The club have said they are "innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League" and they have "irrefutable evidence" the ruling "contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe". In their appeal, City will argue the payments were made by the United Arab Emirates government as a shareholder of the sponsors, while there are inconsistencies in the Commission's judgement.
Therefore, City say the sponsorship amounts were legitimate and not topped up by the owners. James Severn, Member of the London Solicitor Litigation Association (LSLA) and Partner at Penningtons Manches Cooper, told BBC Sport the appeal is "not simply an opportunity to invite a new panel" to get the verdict overturned.
"City will need to identify a material error of law, principle or fact, or serious procedural unfairness, which materially affected the Commission's decision," Severn said. "The Appeal Board nevertheless has broad powers to allow or dismiss the appeal, vary the decision or make any other order it considers appropriate.
Etihad Airways, one of City's principle sponsors at the centre of the case, had previously stated that the Abu Dhabi government had not paid for its sponsorship of Manchester City. That came in court documents as part of a US investigation in New York in 2015.
City will argue this does not have the full context of the situation and is not proof they have been inconsistent with evidence. The club are adamant government documents fully support their case - but, Severin said, if these were already available to the Commission they may not be much use in an appeal.
The bank statements, government records and contemporaneous payment documents could be powerful evidence if they establish a clear audit trail showing the disputed funds came from the Abu Dhabi government rather than the owners," Severin added. "However, if that evidence was already before the Commission, which nevertheless concluded that the arrangements were a sham, City will face an uphill struggle to demonstrate the finding was materially wrong.
Shortly before City's appeal was confirmed, Etihad Airways issued a statement saying it had never been given the opportunity by the Premier League to be represented, to provide relevant information, or to ensure the accuracy and fairness of information relied upon". Severin said Etihad Airways' complaint "does not, of itself, establish procedural unfairness".
"Etihad was not the respondent and is unlikely to have had an independent right to participate in the proceedings," Severin said. "It is likely to have been open to either party to obtain and present such evidence to the Commission."