Manchester City hearing date set but Everton takeover decision delayed

The chief executive of the Premier League, Richard Masters, has confirmed that a date has been agreed to hear the 115 charges brought against Manchester City and acknowledged a delay in assessing 777 Partners’ offer to buy Everton, as he sought to show MPs the top flight remains committed to reform of English football.

Speaking at a hearing of the UK culture, media and sport committee, Masters would only offer that the Everton investigation could hopefully be completed within weeks, after processes were complicated by a lack of satisfactory answers from the American investors.

Nor would Masters share details on the City hearing, which has been reported as likely to take place before the end of the season. Meanwhile, Masters’s English Football League counterpart, Rick Parry, also had to acknowledge that the crisis at Reading involving their owner, Dai Yongge, is a new problem for the League.

The hearing centred on the failure of the Premier League and EFL to agree a deal that would ensure financial stability for the English football pyramid. It was acknowledged on all sides that a deal is some way from being done, with Parry arguing that the proposed independent regulator should conduct its own assessment on the health of the game before negotiations are concluded.

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Asked if he understood the frustration of Everton supporters who have already seen their club punished mid‑season, with more charges laid against them this week, while the City investigation goes into its sixth year, Masters said he was sympathetic.

“I can [understand the frustration] but they are very different charges,” he said. “If any club, current champions or otherwise, were found in breach of the spending rules in 2022‑23 they would be in exactly the same position as Everton or Nottingham Forest. But the volume and character of the charges laid against City, which I obviously cannot talk about at all, are being heard in a completely different environment. There is a date set for that proceeding. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you when that is but that is progressing.”

On the 777 Partners bid for Everton, Masters was asked when fans could hope for a conclusion to be reached. “As soon as we have completed the process and, unfortunately, some processes take a matter of weeks while some – if we haven’t received satisfactory answers to the questions we’ve asked – take a lot longer. It’s already been running a number of weeks and it’s going to take longer. How much longer is a very difficult question to answer. But hopefully weeks.”

The questions directed at Masters had a common theme: testing the Premier League’s argument that it is an effective regulator of the game. “I think most fans want to know that the regulatory bodies, in this case the Premier League, will enforce the rules,” Masters said. But much of the hearing confirmed how little progress has been made between the Premier League and EFL on solving any of their structural issues.

MPs did not hide their desire to see the situation shaken up, with the speedy introduction of an independent regulator the priority. “We live in hope” said the chair, Caroline Dinenage, of reports of imminent parliamentary activity.

Parry seemed to suggest a shift in the position of the EFL, arguing that an outcome that would benefit the entire pyramid remains possible – perhaps even facilitating greater fan ownership in the EFL – but that the best route to achieve it was to allow the regulator to create an independent assessment of the state of the game first. “Please publish the bill, please get on with the state of football review,” he said in his closing remarks. – Guardian