Man City Khaldoon Al Mubarak and chief executive Ferran Soriano next to a cracked Manchester City badge
Man City Khaldoon Al Mubarak and chief executive Ferran Soriano insist the club are innocent
Manchester City will be hit with a 60-point penalty, likely to be applied next season, after being found guilty of breaching FFP rules on 114 charges, per a well-connected radio presenter – but the alleged punishment has been branded nowhere near severe enough given the seriousness of the sanctions.
The eight-time Premier League champions have been caught up in the biggest scandal of the competition’s 34-year history after being found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges against them over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018.
And while it is important to note that City continue to plead their innocence, have already appealed against the guilty verdict, and we are told the club could take their case all the way to the High Court to clear their name, the Premier League are running a separate enquiry to decide on the most fitting and proper punishment for their misdeeds.
Speculation over the level of sanctions they will face has ranged from a severe points penalty to demotion not just out of the Premier League but down the leagues altogether, with one journalist explaining why the club faces what is described as ‘football oblivion’.
But according to talkSPORT presenter Alan Brazil, he claims to have heard from two sources that City will only face a 60-point sanction from the Premier League – and the punishment will not be imposed until next season, giving the club a chance at securing survival.
“This might be nonsense, but two different sources have told me this; we’re talking about Man City here, and people are saying ‘what’s going to happen?'” Brazil began on talkSPORT’s Breakfast Show.
“I tell you what I’ve heard and people can shoot me down in flames; it might be nonsense, right, so I’m not saying I got it first, none of that rubbish.
“I don’t know whether it’s this season. I can’t see how that can be this season because of the timing; when they get it through it’ll be too late.
“Is it next season? But they are talking about a 60-point deduction.”
“I’m hearing a 60-point deduction. Six-zero point deduction, which will please people and still give City a chance of survival. I don’t know if it’s this season; I can’t see how it can be this season, because by the time they get it, though, it’ll be too late.
“They’re talking about a 60-point deduction. Does that make any sense to you?”
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Such a penalty would seem lenient to so many people, given Everton were given an initial 10-point deduction, reduced to eight on appeal, back in November 2023 for breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
The punishment was imposed after the Toffees recorded a loss of £124.5 million, putting them £19.5 million over the permitted threshold, after their accounts were published at the end of the 2021/22 season.
City, however, are alleged to have swelled their commercial deals through a series of ‘sham’ contracts, to the tune of £830m over those nine years, thus allowing the club to finance several summers of heavy transfer spending on players who contributed towards their trophy successes.
As a result, Brazil’s co-presenter Ally McCoist does not think a 60-point penalty is strong enough to fit their crimes and, in a rare show of anger from the Scot, he responded:
“I think a lot of people wouldn’t think that’s enough. Obviously we’ll have to wait and see how this appeal goes.
“If they didn’t win the appeal, I think people would be looking for a stronger punishment than that.”
As for whether a 60-point deduction would guarantee relegation, McCoist added: “I’m not sure it would guarantee (relegation).
“You’d have to say it probably would (mean City were relegated). If you’re staying up with maybe 37, 38, 39 points, it would make it a challenge, put it that way.”
Any doomsday scenario of City tumbling down the leagues could see the club losing their best players, and in light of that, sources have revealed that PSG are ready to beat Liverpool to an attacking wizard if the sanctions force his exit.
Elsewhere, Arsenal are being backed to sign three of the club’s best players, with Mikel Arteta ‘straight on the phone’ to them amid claims they will look to leave the Etihad.
Erling Haaland, meanwhile, is said to have chosen his next destination should he be forced to move on.
TeamTalk