There have been suggestions in recent weeks that Manchester City could be handed a heavy 60-point punishment if they are found to have breached the Premier League's Financial Fair Play rules.
In February 2023, City were charged by the Premier League with breaking FFP rules on 115 occasions over a nine-year period. Three years on and the case has not reached its conclusion. If found guilty, it is unclear what punishment City will be given.
Speaking last month, football finance expert Kieran Maguire claimed they could be handed a 60-point deduction. He said on the Overlap:
"If we take a look at precedence, we have had Everton and Nottingham Forest with six and four-point deductions for a single offence covering a three-year period. The accusations against Manchester City cover a nine-year period, so it is far bigger.
"The numbers involved, we are not certain about, but they are likely to be quite significant. I think you have to add a zero to what we've seen in terms of Forest and Everton, so somewhere between a 40 and 60-point deduction would be, on merit to be consistent with what we've seen with other decisions, would make a lot of logic.β
Journalist Claims Decision Imminent
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola looks to the sky
Colombian journalist and broadcaster Cesar Augusto Londono has now taken to X (formerly Twitter) to make a huge claim about the case. The journalist, who has one million followers on the social media platform, claims that City will be given a huge points deduction and that they will learn their fate before the end of the season. He wrote:
"Manchester City would be sanctioned with a deduction of 60 points for 115 breaches of Financial Fair Play. The official announcement of the punishment will be made before the end of the season. This sanction would take the club to the last place in the Premier League and it would be condemned to relegation."
As Londono says, if they are given a 60-point deduction, City will plummet to the bottom of the Premier League table. They will be on just one point and their relegation to the Championship will be confirmed.
Richard Dunne Speaks Out Amid 60-Point Deduction Claims
Richard Dunne battling for the ball 2
Former Man City captain Richard Dunne has slammed the length of time it's taken to reach a verdict. He said, per Goal: βIt'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.
βI 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.
"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.β