Reports have revealed that the Premier League could possibly punish Manchester City for “a number of alleged breaches” following a four-year financial investigation, found out what’s next and what type of punishments they could face and will it be a points deduction or relegation
Following four years of financial investigation into Manchester City’s finances, the Premier League on February 6 announced that the club had allegedly breached regulations multiple times.
Will Manchester City face a points deduction or relegation after they are charged by the Premier League for financial breaches
🚨 BREAKING 🚨
Manchester City have been charged by the Premier League for breaking numerous Financial Fair Play rules.
A points deduction as punishment is not off the table. pic.twitter.com/vgAlLL0Ozh
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) February 6, 2023
If Manchester City are found guilty over breaking financial rules across nine seasons by an independent commission, what should their punishment be? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/dow9F9NC3M
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 6, 2023
In essence, Man City have been accused of gaining an unfair advantage over other clubs under the ownership of City Football Group. The punishments for that could be harsh.
The charges against Man City
Evidently, Man City club have been charged with breaching Premier League rules more than 100 times between 2009 and 2018. Moreover, this time-period directly correlates to the 2008 takeover by Sheikh Mansour of the Abu Dhabi United Group.
More specifically, the club have allegedly failed to provide accurate financial informations to the Premier League and also mislead regulators regarding their revenue, which includes sponsorship income and operating costs.
The investigation revealed inconsistencies regarding how much Manchester City paid their manager Roberto Mancini from 2009-13. Salary figures for various players from 2010-16 were also not clearly reported to the league. The Premier League also made some charges stating that Manchester City disregarded certain rules on profitability and sustainability between 2015-18.
Not only this, the investigation further goes beyond domestic action. The Premier League stated that Manchester City may have also broken UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules from 2013-18. This is not a new case, as the issue was brought up previously but Man City appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport who overturned a UEFA ban from European competitions. The club however, had to pay a €10 million fine.
The Premier League made a statement saying:
In accordance with Premier League Rule W.82.1, the Premier League confirms that it has today referred a number of alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules by Manchester City Football Club (Club) to a Commission under Premier League Rule W.3.4.”
Manchester City however, denied all the charges brought by the Premier League following its four-year investigation and simply stated:
Manchester City is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules, particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with.”
Next steps of the investigations
Owing to the nature of the case, the matter could drag on for several months if not years. The Premier League after publishing their findings, have currently referred Manchester City to an independent commission to determine any punishments.
It is expected that the club will not be allowed to make appeals once the commission makes the final decision. The 15-member commission that the Premier League’s judicial panel appointed will hold only private and confidential hearings. As things stand, there is no definite timetable on the decisions that the commission will make.
Manchester City possible punishments
As of now, the Premier League report did not specify the punishments that Manchester City could receive for their charges. However, there are certain permissible punishments that any independent commission can put upon clubs for violating the Premier League’s rules.
Based on the Premier league rules handbook, if the commission backs up the Premier League’s findings Man City could face a lot of things. Based on section W.51.4 of the Premier League’s official rules and regulations, the commission could impose the following punishments:
- A fine of unlimited quantity
- Suspension of a club from playing in league matches, with an unlimited timeframe
- Point deductions
- Replays of past matches
- Permanent expulsion
- The kicker, though, underlines the power of the commission:
- Make any such other order as the commission sees fit
Notably, the above punishments are in general, and currently there is not enough information on how the independent panel will rule on the issue.
Pep Guardiola’s possible departure from Man City
Guardiola’s time at the club was already under speculation even without the investigation. Just recently in November, Guardiola signed a two-year contract extension. However, he sated last month
The moment I feel something is wrong, I will resign or not renew my contract, I will not stay as [Sir Alex] Ferguson or [Arsene] Wenger did. The contract is just a piece of paper. I extended my commitment to the club because I feel the team can still do well under my leadership. In the end, it’s all about the results. If we get tired of each other, I’m not going to stay until the end because of the contract.”
Manchester City are currently trailing behind Arsenal in the Premier League, and he is under apparent frustration. He recently made a controversial statement claiming how he didn’t care how the team finished this year, and also made a swipe at the fans.
Moreover, he also revealed how he could end up leaving the club due to a breakdown in trust over Manchester City’s financial dealings.
Guardiola sated last year:
I said to our people ‘tell me’ about the suspicions, I looked at them and believed them 100 per cent from day one so I defended the club because of that.”
What next for Manchester City
As of now, Guardiola and his team will face a wave of speculations from the investigations. Guardiola’s future at the club will also become uncertain in the coming months and he may need to restate his desire to stay with the club.
As the independent new commission comes to a decision behind closed doors, speculations around the club may die down for a period of time. Meanwhile, Manchester City will continue chasing down Arsenal for the Premier League title and also try to win the Champions League for the first time under Guardiola.
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