Man City hearing: Premier League 115 charges case set to begin

Manchester City face 115 charges for allegedly breaking the financial rules of the Premier League .

Independent hearing is set to start on Monday at an unknown location.

Case involves an unprecedented catalogue of 115 allegations spread over 14 seasons .

City have always strongly denied the charges, and no one knows what the outcome will be.

If found guilty of the most serious charges, City risk being forever associated with one of the biggest financial scandals in sport.

Der Spiegel alleged that Man City had inflated sponsorship revenue from state-owned airline Etihad and state-controlled telecoms firm Etisalat by disguising direct investment from its holding company ( Mansourâs Abu Dhabi United Group , or ADUG) as sponsorship income.

This, it was alleged, was a means of meeting 'financial fair play' ( FFP ) rules introduced by Uefa in 2011 , and Profit and Sustainability Rules ( PSR ) brought in by the Premier League in 2012 , limiting clubs' permitted losses.

City have always maintained that ADUG is a private fund rather than an arm of the state.

If City are found guilty it will suggest they broke the rules, fastening the foundations for the domination Pep Guardiola masterminded after his arrival in 2016 , culminating in the Treble triumph of 2023 .

The prospect of guilty verdict would raise various questions; would Guardiola leave, how would Sheikh Mansour respond having invested so much in the club and in the city of Manchester ? How would the UAE - which has faced allegations that City is being used as a sports-washing tool to improve the country's image - handle such a PR disaster? Would there be calls for titles and trophies to be re-allocated?.