Legal Expert Advocates for Public Transparency in 115 Charges Case

Nick de Marco holds a prominent position in the ongoing legal discussions within English football. He is widely regarded as the leading authority in football finance law, earning him the moniker ‘The Godfather’ from his own chambers, Blackstone, due to his work in the intricate domain of Profit and Sustainability rules (PSR), also known as Financial Fair Play (FFP). De Marco is unable to elaborate on many of the cases he has handled, either because they are currently under appeal or due to confidentiality requirements. Nevertheless, he expresses firm views regarding the functioning of sports law. A majority of these cases remain confidential, including the dispute between Manchester City and the Premier League concerning the club’s alleged 115 violations of financial regulations. De Marco contends that this lack of public access is inappropriate and can lead to misunderstanding. He stated: “In the past, everything was behind closed doors. Decisions were made with no proper transparency at all, with no due process.” He noted that the situation “has gradually moved on as commercialisation, more money and more professionalism has come in.” However, he added: “But a lot of sports regulators are very scared of losing control. They think the best way of having control is to do things secretly. My view is that doesn’t work in the long run. It makes people suspicious of you.” Regarding the Manchester City situation, he posited: “I don’t know what is going on in the Manchester City case but let’s imagine a finding comes out later saying they preferred the evidence of one witness to another or that they thought someone was lying to them or someone said an arbitrator was biased.” He concluded by emphasizing the consequence of secrecy: “We have no way of understanding that or testing it. It is much better to be open and transparent.”