Over the past two weeks, there has been a great deal of commotion in Premier League boardrooms, for two linked reasons. One is that senior figures have been canvassing club opinions on whether the competition chair, Alison Brittain, should be given another three-year term. If that sounds like dry executive business, the more complicated reality is that these views are being shaped by something that stirs emotions across the game: the progress of the Manchester City case, which Brittain is seen as having been influential in pushing forward as a commenced arbitration – “cranking the stakes sky high”.
Although I firmly believe this is the best week in football, the start of the week saw yet another wave of the usual international-break chaos – only this time, it was more intense than usual. At some of Sunday’s games, club executives were sharing murmurs that a decision would finally, definitely arrive during this international window. So far, that has not happened – just as it hasn’t during any of the previous international breaks this year.
It is becoming a running joke, and it’s unfortunate that the phrase applies on more than one level.
Very few people know the actual details of the case, which has been one of the central problems. Even some of the Premier League’s most senior club figures are left relying on rumour and speculation, like almost everyone else.
I have been told the outcome is “imminent” on at least five occasions this year.
And as everyone continues to wait, debate about support for Brittain has intensified. Given that assessments of her suitability for another term will inevitably be shaped by the outcome of the City case, several senior sources believe it is “absurd” to make such a decision before what they describe as a “seminal” moment.
Some clubs, they say, want her removed if the outcome is not deemed a success for the Premier League. “Success” will also be judged on time, cost and any appeal.
City, of course, continue to insist on their innocence. But with so little clarity on progress, the vacuum has only grown – and with it, the number of influential figures questioning whether the process is working.
It is remarkable that a case likely to have a profound effect on the league table, the competition, its history, potentially a club and the wider game has been allowed to drift for this long. As one prominent voice complained to Premier League peers recently, it is ridiculous that this has become normal.
A growing number of sources now argue that the Premier League’s self-imposed process is no longer fit for purpose – and that this saga proves it.
