Former Manchester City captain and now Burnley star Kyle Walker has spoken about the consequences of his ex-club's guilty verdict, including what it could mean for the titles he won at the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City have filed a formal appeal against the independent panel's guilty verdict.
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The independent commission's finding that City systematically breached Premier League financial rules across nine seasons between 2009 and 2018 has generated widespread debate about the nature and scale of any eventual punishment.
The commission found that City arranged commercial sponsorship contracts under which a number of the club's partners paid only a fraction of the agreed fees, with the remainder covered by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd.
The schemes were found to have artificially inflated revenues and reduced costs by more than £900 million across the affected period, with the club also found guilty on the majority of charges relating to a failure to cooperate with the investigation.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters described the case as the most significant disciplinary proceeding in the competition's history.
Manchester City lodged a comprehensive appeal against the commission's opinion on October 1, meeting the deadline set by the independent panel.
The club's position is that the commission's opinion contains "clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe," and that "a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence" exists in support of their innocence.
The sanctions phase - which will determine any sporting or financial punishment - has not yet begun and will follow the conclusion of the appeals process. Sources familiar with the case have indicated that full resolution, including all available appeal routes, may not arrive until 2028 or 2029.
Hopefully we don't get things taken away, says Walker on Man City titles
Speaking to talkSPORT this week, former Manchester City captain Kyle Walker was asked about the titles he won at the Etihad Stadium following discourse in the world of football over whether City should be stripped of the silverware won during the period in relation to the charges.
"[I've got] 'four in a row' tattooed," Walker said. Asked whether he would remove the tattoo if medals were taken away, the defender added: "Well I'm probably going to have to do that bit!
"But you look at the likes of the great Manchester United squads, they never managed to get four in a row. There's only a select few of us that can say we've got four. I'll try and keep it, but hopefully we don't get things taken away."
Walker: Let's not hide from the fact Man City been found guilty but they're going through an appeal
On the charges situation, Walker said: "It's the big elephant in the room we're probably all going to be asked when doing interviews or whatever. It doesn't look great. Let's not hide from the fact they've been found guilty but they're going through an appeal.
"As a player all I can say is all we did is go out and play our best as a team and I'll defend the players for the rest of my life, because I feel what we did and achieved in that time was incredible and probably won't be done ever again. But from the outside looking in, it doesn't look great and we have to address that."
Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United are among the clubs reported to be preparing civil claims linked to the period covered by the charges, with the combined value reported to be around £800 million.
City boss Enzo Maresca and others in the squad have publicly expressed their faith in the club as the Blues look to stay focussed on on-pitch matters and extend their perfect start to the Premier League campaign to eight games against Aston Villa on Saturday.