Why did the Man City verdict take so long? And how much longer could an appeal process take?

Manchester City’s Premier League case has dragged on for years even after a first judgment was reportedly reached. The club was charged in February 2023 with 115 breaches, with legal preliminaries and procedural disputes spanning roughly 18 months, including what evidence could be disclosed and who would testify. The substantive hearing did not start until September 16, 2024, and ran almost three months before ending December 6. City’s defence was led by Lord Pannick KC. A key reason for the delay, sources say, is the scale: 115 charges boiled into four core issues, then multiplied by time periods, with the independent three-person panel taking longer than expected.