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Possible sanctions for City Are Points deductions or even EPL expulsion or more

Published

2 years ago

February 6, 2023

Man City hit with more than 100 charges of breaching financial rules by the Premier League over a nine-year period. Possible sanctions if found proven include points deductions or even expulsion from the league.

Manchester City have been charged by the Premier League with more than 100 alleged breaches of financial regulations after a four-year investigation.

The Premier League announced on its website that the club have been charged with breaching regulations over nine seasons. It is believed that if the charges are proved it could lead to a range of sanctions including a points deduction or even expulsion from the league.

The Premier League said in a statement: “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 to a Commission.”

The investigation started in December 2018 after the German investigative website Der Spiegel published documents from the Football Leaks cache which originated from the Portuguese computer hacker Rui Pinto.

It alleged that City had: overstated sponsorship income, with money being paid by the club’s Abu Dhabi owners instead of sponsors linked to the Gulf state; effectively doubled former manager Roberto Mancini’s wages via a secret contact with an Abu Dhabi club; broken rules over approaches to young players.

Uefa initially banned City for two years and fined the club €30 million (about £27 million) for alleged financial fair play breaches connected to sponsorship payments. In 2020, the ban was overturned, and the fine reduced to €10 million, by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which said “most of the alleged breaches were either not established or time-barred”.

Under Premier League rules, there is no similar restriction on the length of time since an alleged offence.

Two years after the launch of the Premier League’s investigation, an arbitration tribunal ordered City to provide “certain documents and information to the Premier League and to make enquiries of third parties”, the Court of Appeal said.

In July 2021 a Court of Appeal decision revealed that City had challenged the jurisdiction of an arbitration panel set up by the Premier League and had, unsuccessfully, legally challenged demands to hand over documents and information.

One of the judges, Lord Justice Males, said in the ruling: “This is an investigation which commenced in December 2018. It is surprising, and a matter of legitimate public concern, that so little progress has been made after two and a half years — during which, it may be noted, the club has twice been crowned as Premier League champions.”

In March 2019, the Premier League first confirmed an investigation was under way after a number of top-flight clubs raised the issue of the allegations against City.

A statement at that time said: “The Premier League has previously contacted Manchester City to request information regarding recent allegations and is in ongoing dialogue with the club.

“The League has detailed financial regulations and strong rules in the areas of Academy player recruitment and third-party ownership. We are currently investigating these matters and will allow Manchester City every opportunity to explain the context and detail surrounding them.”