Manchester City’s appeal against their Champions League ban could be further delayed after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced there would be no in-person hearings held before May 1.
The Blues were initially hoping to get their case sorted by the beginning of summer so that they would know their fate before the start of the next European club competition.
However, that looks increasingly unlikely due to the measures imposed by different organisations and countries in an attempt to control the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
CAS had already postponed a number of hearings, and told news agency Reuters at the weekend that they were offering the possibility of video or phone links or postponing any cases where in-person hearings were not going ahead.
City’s case is not yet listed on a schedule that goes up to May 18, and a statement released late on Monday evening confirmed that there would be no in-person hearings for at least the next six weeks.
A statement read: "CAS will not host any in-person hearing before 1 May 2020, at the earliest. Depending on the circumstances of each individual case, the arbitrators and parties are encouraged to conduct hearings by video-conference or to cancel them (final award on the basis of written submissions.
“If such measures are not possible or appropriate, the hearings must be postponed until May 2020 or later. Depending on the evolution of the Covid-19 outbreak, the prohibition of in-person hearings may be extended.”
