More than a year has passed since the independent commission wrapped up its hearings into the long list of financial charges facing Manchester City. Yet here we are, still without a verdict. No timeline. No clarity. No sense of when football’s most talked-about legal saga will finally get its closing chapter.
And while the football world keeps refreshing its news feeds, City have simply… kept going.
They are competing for another Premier League crown, reviewing transfer targets, negotiating contracts, and even thinking about what life might look like after Pep Guardiola. In other words, business as usual. That normalcy, however, is exactly what is making the silence around the case feel louder by the week.
If you looked only at the pitch and the boardroom, you would barely notice anything unusual at the Etihad.
City continue to behave like a club that expects stability. Contract talks are happening. Squad depth is being evaluated. Long-term recruitment plans are being drawn up. The academy pipeline keeps flowing. Even conversations about Guardiola’s eventual successor are quietly underway behind closed doors, a standard process for any elite club thinking five years ahead.
The longer this silence continues, the more uncomfortable it becomes for everyone else.
Supporters of rival clubs are openly questioning how a process can take this long without eroding trust. Fans want closure. Players want certainty. Even neutrals are starting to feel that the lack of resolution has become its own storyline.
From a legal standpoint, complex cases take time. That part is understood. But when more than a year passes after hearings have concluded, doubts start to creep in. Not necessarily about guilt or innocence, but about whether the system itself is functioning as it should.
Manchester City, for their part, have always maintained that they are confident in their position. Their public communications continue to reference the independent nature of the review and their faith in the evidence they’ve submitted. The Premier League, on the other hand, must have felt strongly enough to bring such a sweeping case forward in the first place.
That creates an odd limbo. Two powerful institutions standing firm. No decision in sight.
For the league, this is more than a legal matter. It is a reputational one. The Premier League’s global brand is built on competitiveness, fairness, and credibility. When a case of this magnitude lingers indefinitely, it risks creating a sense that the system is either overwhelmed or unwilling to bring matters to a conclusion.
And the longer the wait continues, the harder it becomes for any eventual outcome to feel clean. Whatever the verdict, some will question how decisive or convincing it can truly be after so much time has passed.
