Allegations of financial breaches have been hanging over Manchester City since February 2023. And while an independent hearing into those accusations was completed late in 2024, the club still haven't heard a final verdict.
The Etihad outfit have been accused of breaching Premier League rules between 2009 and 2018. These relate to various rules, including failure to provide accurate financial information and accurate reports on player and manager compensation.
It remains to be seen if they will face a strong punishment. Chelsea, for example, were only fined £10.75 million and slapped with a suspended transfer ban by the Premier League after making secret payments to unregistered agents and players. Everton and Nottingham Forest, who have both been deducted points for their own financial issues, are said to be furious with this outcome.
The outcome for Man City is still unclear. If they do face a sporting punishment, instead of just a monetary fine, it's expected to be rather strong.
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Richard Dunne Unhappy as Man City Could Be Hit With 60-Point Deduction
Richard Dunne
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has previously claimed that Manchester City could be hit with as much as a 60-point deduction. If that punishment took place right now, Pep Guardiola's team would drop from second in the league all the way down to the bottom of the division, with just one point to their name and relegation certain.
Amid these rumours, former City captain Richard Dunne has told Goal that the Premier League would be 'ruining their own competition' if such a point deduction was to occur in 2025/26. He slammed the notion saying:
"It's been ridiculous already, the amount of time that it's dragged on. They've come to a conclusion a long time ago, so why it's taken so long to get around to giving out their results of what they found is stupid.
“I mean, it just undermines the whole Premier League if they start coming out now at this stage of the season and you've got the opportunity of a real interesting title race over the next couple of months. So, they're ruining their own competition if they come out and start making decisions now. It's something that's best left until the summer and they can work out what they're going to do going forward rather than retrospectively.”
Dunne Explains 'Relief' Stance on Future City Punishment
Richard Dunne battling for the ball 2
Dunne played for Man City between 2000 and 2009, playing 345 times for the club. He won no honours during his nine-year stay, with most of the club's success only coming after the huge financial boost following the takeover of Sheikh Mansour Khaldoon Al Mubarak in 2008.
Dunne was also asked about his thoughts on the sanctions if they were to be applied heading into the 2026-27 campaign. He said: “That's the way it has to go now. I can imagine for Manchester City it's been really undermining because it's just been dragging along with them. It's followed them around and for myself and for other ex-players, or anyone that's associated with the club, you do interviews and it's always about, ‘but what about this FFP thing?’.
“Man City have got so much going for them in terms of they just won the Carabao Cup, they constantly produce really good players that play a really good style of football and everyone wants to just talk about the negative side of it. So, I think for the whole thing to get dealt with and to get finished, I think it's a relief for everybody from Man City.
“I think it'll be a relief for the Premier League that they can finally come to a decision and put the whole thing to bed and let Man City be what they are and let them deal with whatever comes their way and get back to just focusing purely on the football.”