Richard Masters on Manchester City Case Delays: Process Must Prevail
Richard Masters knows everyone is tired of waiting. He also knows he can’t speed it up.
Speaking at a launch event on Tuesday, the Premier League chief executive was pressed again on the unresolved financial charges hanging over Manchester City. The case has been rumbling on for years; the sense of limbo grows by the week.
Masters, speaking to talkSPORT, accepted the sheer length of the saga but defended the way it is being handled.
“As every day elapses, we must be a day nearer,” he said of the outcome. “I obviously can't comment on it. I do understand the frustration. It has taken longer than expected, but we have to follow the process.”
City were charged back in February 2023 over alleged breaches of financial regulations. An independent commission has already held a full hearing, which concluded in December 2024, but the verdict is still pending. No one inside the Premier League is pretending the timescale looks good from the outside.
Masters, though, framed the delay as the price of getting to the bottom of serious allegations.
“In the end, the Premier League's responsibility is to ask the Independent Commission to look at serious allegations and to establish the truth,” he said. “That shouldn't be qualified by it taking too long, for example.”
Truth first, timeline second. That is the line, even as pressure builds from clubs, fans and pundits who want clarity on one of the most significant disciplinary cases English football has ever seen.
Chelsea comparison highlights City divide
The Premier League boss was also asked about Chelsea, whose case has moved far faster and ended with a clear punishment: a £10 million fine and a suspended transfer ban for historical breaches.
On the surface, both clubs have faced questions over historic financial conduct. The outcomes, and the pace of them, could hardly be more different.
Masters drew that contrast himself. For Chelsea, he stressed, the dynamic changed when the club’s new ownership came forward.
“In the situation with Chelsea, obviously it's historic. It's very different to PSR cases,” he explained. “In the case of Chelsea, the new owners came forward with all the information, and we decided to enter a sanction agreement.”
Cooperation opened the door to a negotiated resolution. That route, he made clear, has not been available in every case.
Why City’s case is taking so long
Manchester City’s legal battle has become a symbol of the strain on the Premier League’s disciplinary system. While other clubs have been charged and punished under Profit and Sustainability Rules in relatively short order, City’s case sits apart.
Masters pointed to the “unique complexities” of the investigation around City and similar historic matters. Where evidence is incomplete and key witnesses are difficult to secure, the league has little choice but to lean on a full, contested commission process rather than a quick agreement.
He underlined that reality without naming City directly.
- Lacking complete documentation.
- Missing or unavailable witnesses.
- Disputes on almost every point.
In those circumstances, Masters argued, independent commissions are the only credible path, even if that means more months of waiting.
The Premier League has already shown it can act swiftly when clubs hand over material and accept wrongdoing, as Chelsea’s case underlined. City’s situation, Masters stressed, is “vastly different” from those where clubs voluntarily provide information to secure immediate sanction agreements.
So the clock keeps ticking. The charges remain. The hearing is done. And, as Masters put it, every day that passes should, in theory, bring English football one step closer to the decision everyone is braced for.
