Manchester City’s fate in a legal battle with the Premier League is yet to be sealed but reports they have been found guilty on widespread financial misconduct has sparked speculation of what comes next.
The dominant Premier League force for more than a decade, swingeing sanctions against City would send shockwaves through English football.
Rival clubs are set to launch their own legal action seeking hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation, while there is debate over whether some of City’s many titles and trophies over the past 15 years could be stripped.
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SANCTION AND APPEALS PROCESS
The Athletic first reported on Friday that City had been found guilty of all but one of the 115 charges they faced.
However, no sanction has yet been approved.
According to The Times’ Martyn Ziegler, a three-person independent commission will hold a sanctions hearing in the coming weeks to decide what punishment will be imposed on Manchester City.
The Premier League will be able to make submissions on what sanctions it believes are appropriate, while some within club football believe the league must seek a hefty points deduction that would effectively lead to relegation.
Even once a decision is made on how City will be punished, should they be found guilty, the club are almost certain to appeal.
In a letter to City fans on Saturday, the club’s chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said: “Our confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began.”
A case that began after German outlet Der Spiegel published leaked documents from City executives in 2018, could still take a lengthy time to fully resolve.
Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has told a meeting of fellow club chiefs the club’s fight against the Premier League could take years to conclude, according to Sky News.
According to Premier League rules, the sanction can vary from a points deduction, a fine or even expulsion from the division.
Everton and Nottingham Forest were handed points deductions in the 2023/24 season for single breaches of financial sustainability rules. On that basis, City would face almost certain relegation if found guilty of over 100 charges.
Whether the sanction is applied before an appeal is heard will be another bone of contention.
If it is, City could face relegation before overturning any guilty verdict. On the other hand, if City, who currently sit top of the table, are not punished until after an appeal, it could cost other clubs their place in the top-flight or lucrative European qualification.
Even after the Premier League process if over, there is also the chance that City’s Abu-Dhabi backed owners seek redress in England’s High Court if they challenge a legal issue regarding how the arbitration process was conducted.
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WHO STANDS TO GAIN?
City’s rivals were quick to revel in the news of their potential demise.
“Another Premier League medal to be added to the cabinet,” posted former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, who was part of the United team to finish second to City in the 2011/12 season.
Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has compared Manchester City’s alleged financial breaches to an athlete doping to win an Olympic medal.
Ilicali became the first Premier League owner to speak publicly about the situation following reports City had been found guilty of widespread financial rule breaches.
While he made it clear he did not know whether City were guilty, Ilicali pointed towards the potential impact on other clubs if financial rules had been broken on such a significant scale.
“I don’t say they are guilty or not because they are saying they are innocent… and I think the Premier League says they are not innocent,” Ilicali told the 1904 Club podcast.
“If they are not innocent and they did something… I think [it is] not different than having doping and [winning] the Olympic medal.
“This is financial doping at the end of the day. Bringing top four or five players with huge money, breaking the rules.
“From that side, it doesn’t look very positive.”
The reality is that stripping and retroactively awarding titles is a messy process.
City’s charges relate to the period between 2009 and 2018.
In that time they won four league titles, with United and Liverpool twice finishing second in those seasons.
Yet City have won another four since, arguably built on foundations that were fraudulently gained.
They also won four League Cups and one FA Cup, the club’s first trophy for 35 years, in the period between 2009 and 2018.
“I don’t seriously believe any other trophies and titles will be handed back over either,” Tony Pulis, whose Stoke side lost the 2011 FA Cup final to City, told the BBC.
“A points deduction and a massive fine feels far more likely. But I still feel cheated.”
A more likely source of recompense for clubs that missed out is through financial compensation.
In June, Everton were told they must pay Burnley £35 million ($46 million) after they edged out the Clarets to Premier League survival in the same season they broke financial sustainability rules.
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WHAT ABOUT CITY’S STARS?
Less than a month ago, City completed the biggest ever transfer spend in one window, splashing out around £460 million on the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Elliott Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi.
The impending verdict on the charges has to this point made little impact on City’s ability to attract and retain their star names.
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Talismanic striker Erling Haaland signed a nine-year contract in 2025 that could keep him tied down till his 34th birthday.
How many, if any, of the players managed to negotiate exit clauses in the case City were heavily sanctioned remains to be seen.