Arsenal and the rest of the Premier League will likely be forced to wait further to learn the outcome of Manchester's City trial over alleged financial breaches.
The 12-week tribunal against the Premier League concluded back in December last year and in the following seven months, no indication of how things unravelled has emerged. Potential punishments if City are found guilty range from a hefty fine to Premier League expulsion and the stripping of titles.
However, City vehemently deny any wrongdoing and insist they have a "comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence" proving as such. In the meantime,City and the Premier League have also gone to battle over Associated Transaction Party (APT) rules.
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While a victory was secured from that legal challenge, City made a fresh claim in response to the amendment of sponsorship rules that had been deemed unlawful by an independent tribunal. A new hearing has since been scheduled for the autumn with a verdict not expected until next year, as per The Lawyer magazine, via the Times.
A second sponsorship challenge from City arrived earlier this year when they claimed the Premier League were favouring other clubs such as Arsenal, Leicester City Brighton and Everton, who they claimed had benefitted from loans.
City were of the belief how they received funds through sponsorship deals was different in comparison to companies linked to club owners. That update emerged in April which is some time after Guardiola admitted that he was expecting the verdict over the 115 alleged breaches to be revealed the previous month.
"In one month, I think there will be a verdict and a sentence," Guardiola said back in February. "After that, we will see my opinion of what happened so far." The outcome did not arrive then however, and a new update has revealed it will likely be another few months.
According to the Independent, Guardiola and Co. may have to wait until October to learn of the verdict. Their report added that experts and league sources believe the international break in that month might be an opportune moment to announce the outcome.
City's activity in the transfer market has further hinted of their belief that they are innocent with £180million spent to sign four players back in January. In recent weeks, City have spent a further £127million to bring in Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki.
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