Will City escape again as they did in 2020? The full timeline of the appeal battle

English football's case of the century has entered its most dramatic and complex chapter. Just hours after the historic ruling that found Manchester City guilty of 114 financial breaches out of 115 charges, the Citizens announced they are entering a new legal battle that could delay their fate until next year.

In an official statement on Friday, City confirmed they have formally submitted their appeal, challenging the decision of the Premier League's independent commission. The move starts the countdown to a decisive phase. England will see no sanction imposed until all litigation procedures are complete.

So what happens now? What are the steps and the timeline for the next stages in the case shaking the throne of the Premier League?

A new and entirely independent judicial board

The first step has already begun, according to " Mundo Deportivo ". Once the appeal is submitted, the case moves to an appeals board that sits independent and entirely separate from both the Premier League and the commission that issued the first guilty verdict.

Just three members make up this board, chaired by a former judge. The independent chair of the Premier League's judicial panel appoints all of them to guarantee complete impartiality.

City's statement set out the grounds of their appeal. It rests on the existence of "errors of law, errors in the principles applied, and errors in the assessment of the facts and evidence", with the club affirming they hold the evidence to back their challenge.

The board won't simply review the sanction. It will reexamine the entire decision from its roots.

The decisive date: the countdown has begun

The Premier League's regulations set a clear and strict timeframe. The rules demand that the appeal procedures conclude in full within 12 weeks of the date of submission.

The hearing itself should last a maximum of five days. Once it ends, the appeals board has 30 days to issue its final, reasoned decision.

City submitted the appeal on 1 October, so the maths points to the review wrapping up by the end of December 2026. The final decision that determines the club's fate would then land at the start of 2027.

The three scenarios on the table

The decision now lies with the appeals board alone, and it faces three scenarios:

First: a ruling in favour of Manchester City. That would overturn the disputed findings, nullify all 114 breaches completely and return the club to safe ground.

Second: a rejected appeal and the independent commission's first verdict upheld, convicting the club on all charges. This is the scenario that opens the door to historic sanctions.

Third: a middle ground, with the decision amended. Some breaches would be cancelled and others kept, or the legal classification of the breaches softened.

When will the sanction be announced?

This is the point the English football public cares about most. Under the rules in place in England, no sanction can be imposed while appeal procedures are ongoing.

The Premier League want to speed things up, but the law is clear. The final sanction, which could range from a points deduction to relegation, won't be determined until the appeals board has made its final decision. City's fate will not be settled before the start of 2027.

The start of the legal battle

Should the appeals board rule against Manchester City and confirm the breaches, the story ends in sporting terms at that point. The competition's regulations allow no second sporting appeal before any other body within the Premier League system.

That doesn't mean City will surrender. The club has left the door open to the civil courts, where it can appeal before the British High Court on the grounds that the proceedings were not fair or just, a completely different legal route from the internal sporting appeal.

According to " Sky Sports ", the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) won't be an available option this time. The club can't turn to it as it did in 2020, when it successfully overturned the two-year ban from European competition imposed by UEFA, because that case fell under UEFA's disciplinary system, not that of the Premier League.