Manchester City news and Nations League buildup
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“This is not over of course. We still work on the principle of innocent until repeatedly proven guilty, pending mega-bucks final appeals. There could yet be a dramatic reversal at the next stage. And if so, fair enough. Trust the process. So for now we must also asterisk the asterisk. It should also be pointed out that City still deny all allegations, even when proven at the first instance. They have also, in fairness, not been found guilty of all of those 100-plus charges. Maybe the club can spin this, take the positives, a vital away charge to take into the appeal…”
Leading the City team was David Pannick KC, one of the foremost barristers of his generation, renown for representing the rich and powerful. Previous clients include Queen Elizabeth II, Boris Johnson, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and more than one billionaire sheikh.
Lawyers may not earn as much as the Erling Haaland’s £500,000 a week but Pannick charges a none too shoddy £5,000 an hour. In 2019, Pannick charged £407,250 for defending Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, a former Qatari prime minister, involving a two-day trial, which the crossbench peer did not attend.
Paul Harris KC a leading sport and commercial silk, also led City’s successful appeal before the court of arbitration for sport (Cas) against Uefa’s Champions League ban on the club for alleged breaches of financial fair play rules. He is said to have been a trusted adviser to the club for more than 20 years.
Adam Lewis KC is widely regarded as the country’s preeminent sports barrister and co-authored the leading textbook in the field. His cases include acting for Chelsea at Cas when they successfully halved a two-transfer-window ban imposed by Fifa. He also represented Premiership Rugby at an independent tribunal where the champions Saracens were found to have breached salary cap regulations.
Andrew Hunter KC ’s prominent sports cases include rugby’s “bloodgate” scandal and Formula One’s spygate scandal when McLaren were fined $100m (then £50m) and docked all their points in the constructors’ championship when found in possession of documents belonging to Ferrari.
Jason Pobjoy KC represented the Premier League alongside Lewis as he did when Everton were docked points for breaching financial rules. Pobjoy argued that Everton’s “unreasonable conduct in the proceedings unnecessarily and significantly increased” costs for the league, which sought to recover £4.9m in lawyers’ fees. However, Everton argued the costs were “eye-watering” and were ordered to pay only £1.7m. Pobjoy has also represented the Football Association but is best known for his civil liberties, public and human rights law cases, including pro bono work.
The big news yesterday was that of Manchester City’s guilty verdict in their legal battle with the Premier League. Click below for all the info.
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! There is no Premier League action today but we have 10 Nations League fixtures to look forward to, along with two WSL games.
And in case you somehow missed it, Manchester City were found guilty of over 100 charges related to breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules this week, so we will be bringing you the latest on that and telling you everything you might need to know.
There is plenty to talk about – so join us!