Manchester City obviously are oblivious of what the Court of Arbitration for Sport will have in store for them but they have so far some good news for a start to their appeal efforts.
Although not delighted to be stuck indelicately in the situation they’re in, they have at least so far been given what they wanted at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The Premier League side’s landmark court battle with UEFA has been confirmed for the second week of June, a three-day hearing squeezed into the schedule starting June 8.
It’s now simply a question of whether they will succeed in their attempt to have a two-year ban thrown out with the club maintaining their confidence throughout the process that an independent review will clear their name.
For a start at least, the June date will be welcomed at the Etihad.
From the get-go when the Football Leaks stories broke and an investigation was launched, manager Pep Guardiola had been publicly hopeful for a decision to be reached as soon as possible. The premise of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ doesn’t necessarily often work in the public spotlight, nor in the football world clouded by fake news where legitimate decisions are regularly questioned if it they run contrary to what is presumed to be the truth.
“I am also looking for the end of this process maybe to put an pen under this undertone that we are hearing all the time that anything that we do, any result that we get is based only on money and not on talent and effort,” said CEO Ferran Soriano in explaining City’s decision to appeal.
“The hundreds of people that work at this club know this is not true that it is about effort and talent so maybe in the end, this is an opportunity.”
Suspicion towards City carried on after UEFA had passed a guilty sentence. An although Soriano went on record to state the preference for an “early resolution” before the beginning of the summer, the club’s Premier League rivals raised their concern that the ban could be put on hold as a result of the pandemic that they even wrote to CAS asking them to rule out that possibility.
Look like it all still boils down to preservation of self interests, regardless of whatever the truth may be. Integrity be damned, this is the big league with big bucks and massive egos at stake.