Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Man City are awaiting the verdict of an independent commission for the alleged 115 breaches of Premier League financial rules.
Manchester City could be slapped with a points deduction of anywhere between 40-80 points, it has been suggested.
City are awaiting the verdict after being charged for 115 alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules during every season between 2009-10 and 2022-23. In that time, the Etihad Stadium side became an English footballing behemoth as they won eight top-flight titles, three FA Cups and six League Cups as well as the Champions League.
In the Premier League, Liverpool finished as runners-up to City on three occasions - in 2013-14, 2018-19 and 2021-22. It means Kopites are closely keeping track of the case should the Manchester club be found guilty by an independent commission.
The outcome of the case was expected in March but the wait goes on. Everton and Nottingham Forest were found guilty of breaking spending rules last season. Everton were hit with a combined 10 points for two breaches - eight for 2021-22 and two for 2022-23 - with Forest docked four points for not sticking to the regulations in 2022-23.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes that the Premier League could ‘add a zero’ on the end of the previous punishments should City have broken the rules. However, if they are cleared of any wrongdoing - like the club have been steadfast about since they were hit with the charges - then there could be a ‘lot of trouble’.
What punishment could Man City face if found guilty?
Maguire, a lecturer at the University of Liverpool, said while featuring on The Overlap: “I have spoken to some people high up and they reckon only four or five people in the country know when the verdict will be out. So there’s lots of in-the-know cases, lots of people saying on WhatsApp groups and so on that it’s due out this Friday, next Monday and so on.
“Nobody knows for sure. I think when it does come out, the big fear is that you get the verdict as to whether they are guilty or innocent of the 115 charges – but you don’t get told what the punishment is. That could come later. There is certainly a desire from the Premier League for it to come out, otherwise, we’ve got a hangover over the summer in terms of where does this leave clubs?
“If it comes out in July, for example, and Man City are given a 40 or 50-point deduction then presumably one of Leicester or Ipswich will be saying, ‘well if that had come out earlier we would have avoided relegation,’ so therefore they might be putting in a legal case. We’ve seen Burnley recently put in a case against Everton for the points deduction there. They believe they suffered financially.
“If you read the commission reports from cover to cove,r they both say that these were minor breaches of the rules. What Manchester City are being accused of is corporate fraud over the period of nearly a decade, so, if guilty, you’ve got to add a zero onto the points deductions that we’ve seen for Forest and Everton. If not guilty… there’s going to be a lot of trouble.”