Traitor! It’s been revealed who blew the Man City case

The Manchester City case has produced a detail that Arsenal fans could hardly have scripted better.

Details: Lord David Pannick KC, one of Britain's most prominent barristers, led Manchester City's legal team in the club's long-running disciplinary battle with the Premier League. The remarkable detail is his football allegiance: Pannick is an Arsenal supporter and has publicly confirmed that he holds a season ticket at the London club.

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Pannick himself openly declared the unusual combination in the House of Lords in July 2025, saying that he remained an Arsenal season-ticket holder while simultaneously serving as counsel to Manchester City in the continuing disciplinary and regulatory proceedings involving the Premier League.

The independent commission has now found Manchester City guilty on 114 of the 115 charges under consideration. That means the claim that Pannick failed to clear City on every single one of the 115 counts is not accurate: one charge was not upheld. City intend to appeal the verdict, while the specific sporting or financial sanctions have not yet been determined.

Pannick's support for Arsenal makes the story particularly ironic, but there is no evidence that his club allegiance affected his professional work or that he deliberately lost the case. It is worth noting that this was not his first legal battle on City's behalf: a 2021 High Court judgment also listed Lord Pannick among the lawyers representing Manchester City in proceedings against the Premier League.

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