DO THEY STAND A CHANCE? Man City's 'irrefutable evidence', private optimism and brutal reality in battle to overturn Premier League verdict

It's the scandal which has rocked the Premier League to its very core.

Manchester City have been found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges which were levied against them back in February 2023, a verdict which has immediately tainted the trophy-laden era overseen by their owners.

Talk of asterisks and the stripping of titles has been rife in the days following the verdict and court of public opinion has already spoken. But while people are speculating over City's potential - and substantial - looming punishment, the club have already made it clear that they will fight the damning verdicts until the bitter end by launching an appeal.

With the next stage of the saga now pending, Mirror Football asks the question: where do things stand right now?

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It was just over one week ago that the football world was rocked to its very core: Manchester City had been found guilty of all but one of the serious charges laid against them.

That included an elaborate 'Disguised Funding Scheme', which was instigated between 2009 and 2018 to improperly declare £949.94m worth of commercial sponsorship revenue. Just £119.25m of that sum was proven to be legitimate base fee payments courtesy of Abu Dhabi sponsors, meaning City banked just under £830.7m direct from their owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG).

Not only did City's grossly inflated revenue figures from that period help finance the run of domestic dominance they enjoyed, there were other damning revelations laid out in black and white along with the ruthless takedown of City's 'sham' contracts.

The commission brutally dismissed the accounts given by some of City's witnesses, who are said to have given evidence 'that they knew to be untrue and so had been dishonest'. The scathing statement redacted the details of such individuals, plus lawyers and other names.

Confirmation of another redacted individual receiving secret payments beyond their initial contract was also outlined in a 40-page document which has absolutely torched both Manchester City's reputation and their lengthy list of accolades.

In the aftermath of the Premier League's seismic ruling, Manchester City have been remarkably calm. City's chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, even released a statement the day after reports revealing the guilty verdict, illustrating that the club were still steadfast in their belief that they would be proven innocent.

Ferran Soriano, City's chief executive, went one further in a video message to staff after the Premier League verdict was published, shedding light on the club's 'irrefutable evidence' which had been previously referenced by Al Mubarak.

We now know City's explanation for the figures referenced above: that the funding came from the Abu Dhabi government, rather than the club's owners.

“The whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation – that the owner’s personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi. This is just not true,” said Soriano.

“Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League commission that shows that it could not happen and that it did not happen. This includes bank statements, money transfers, witnesses and everything necessary to categorically demonstrate the money did not come from the owner.”

We now know what the appeal is likely to be largely based on. Whether it will be Manchester City's silver bullet is up for debate, though - particularly as that explanation has already been rejected in the Premier League's 40-page verdict.

So, not only is City's explanation that the money came direct from Abu Dhabi nothing new in terms of the initial hearing, it was dismissed as “untrue” in the ruling, meaning City will have to convince any appeal panel that such a verdict was incorrect.

Whether that is plausible is, again, up for debate. It is worth noting the strong language that was used to dismiss City's explanation, which the commission felt was “concocted well after the event in an attempt to obscure and conceal the realities of the disguised funding scheme”.

It feels like it would require a pretty seismic turnaround for City's name to be cleared on that front. And whether or not people would accept it after the revelations laid bare in this verdict is another matter altogether.

City confirmed on Friday that they had officially lodged their appeal on Thursday night. Per the updated Premier League rules in the summer, this would need to be concluded within 12 weeks. The new three-person panel would then have 30 days to make their decision, which would put a timeframe for an undisputed outcome towards the end of January.

However, there is another potential twist in the saga: City could argue that as this process started well before the implementation of said new rules at the start of this season, such a timeframe should not apply. And that is why nobody really knows how much longer this saga will drag on for - some Premier League clubs even fear the saga will stretch well beyond the end of the 2026-27 campaign.

Manchester City's hierarchy insist the battle is far from over. On that front, at least, they may very well be right.