The football world is waiting in anticipation to find out what punishment Manchester City will face for breaking Premier League financial rules between 2009 and 2019. There is a chance, however, that the Etihad outfit will avoid all sanctions.

This is because City have appealed the initial guilty verdict. The club have maintained innocence throughout, insisting they have 'a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence' which will have them win their appeal. Reacting to the news, a statement read:

"Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today. The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case.

"The Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums."

A report from the Telegraph has now appeared to 'leak' what Man City will use as 'irrefutable evidence' to prove their supposed innocence.

Man City to Claim 'Fundamental Inconsistencies' in Independent Commission Findings

The Telegraph's reporting explains that Man City's legal team will attempt to demonstrate 'fundamental errors' in tests applied by an independent commission to the Premier League’s case after they were charged with inflating revenues by over £900m.

It's noted that the club's appeal is based on three factors:

• 'Contemporaneous bank statements, government records and receipts they see as confirming the Abu Dhabi government as the source of funds for financing of deals'
• 'More recent evidence from the Abu Dhabi government reaffirming the accuracy of the original records.'
• 'What they see as fundamental inconsistencies in the findings'

Man City are said to feel 'bullish' about their stance, which argues that the independent commission 'overlooked' almost all of their evidence that sponsorship payments came from the Abu Dhabi government. The club are also 'expected to argue' that the Premier League relied almost entirely on leaked emails and produced no direct witness, having publicly stated that the panel's approach contains "clear material errors, of law, principle and fact", making the resulting findings "unsafe".

Appeal Outcome Not Expected Until 2027

The Telegraph also reported that, according to people familiar with the club's position, there is 'unhappiness behind the scenes' with the timing and presentation of the Premier League verdict. However, nobody can expect the matter to be resolved soon.

It's understood that the appeal process could take up to 12 weeks. David Kogan, head of the Independent Football Regulator, explained that an outcome likely won't be known until early 2027:

“My understanding is 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.

“Obviously, City claim that they have some form of silver bullet to put off these charges and win the appeal, and we’re not there to judge whether that’s right or wrong yet, but I think we’ll know in the early part of next year.”