English football was rocked on Monday after it was revealed by the Premier League that defending champions Manchester City had allegedly breached financial rules on more than 100 occasions over multiple years.
After a four-year investigation, the findings were announced on Monday that City had broken the league’s financial rules on over 100 occasions between the years 2009-2018, reported the BBC.
The Manchester club won the league title six times within that timeframe and now an independent commission will decide their punishment if found guilty, which could see Man City expelled from the competition, suspended or docked points.
This is an unprecedented situation in English football and City have now hired one of the best lawyers in the world to defend their case.
According to The Lawyer, Man City have hired Lord Pannick KC as their defence; who is part of the Blackstone Chambers group and is widely believed to be one of the best barristers of his generation.
He is claimed to demand up to £10,000 per hour for his work, which could see Man City pay Pannick huge sums of money for his work – around £400,000 per week.
This shows how serious City’s hierarchy are treating the charges, despite saying in their statement that they were surprised by them.