Premier League chief executive Richard Masters admits the legal cases facing Manchester City and other top-flight teams have created “uncertainty and frustration” ahead of the new season.
An independent commission is set to rule on the 115 charges against Premier League champions City for alleged financial breaches during the season.
There are also cases to be resolved involving Leicester and Everton, related to alleged breaches of the league’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).
Asked if the unresolved financial issues would cast a shadow over the 2024/25 season, Masters told Sky Sports: “It does matter, and I understand it creates uncertainty and some frustration but there is no happy alternative to enforcing the rules, which everyone has agreed at the beginning of each season.
“They have looked each other in the eye and shaken each other’s hand and said ‘we will abide by these rules’. So the Premier League has to enforce rules.
“Whatever difficulty or frustration that creates is part of maintaining and protecting the Premier League’s competition, its core values, competitive competition. And that’s really my role, and that’s what I want to continue doing.”
City, who are bidding for an unprecedented fifth successive Premier League title, have won the top-flight crown twice since the charges, which they vehemently deny, were laid in February last year.
Reports have suggested the hearing into City’s case could start in September, but Masters refused to be drawn on a timescale.
“I think it does need to be resolved,” he said. “It’s not in our hands. It’s in the hands of an independent panel.
“They are in charge of the timing and the running of the process, and we must let them get on with it.”
