Premier League rivals are exerting significant pressure on the league to impose sanctions against Manchester City that go well beyond a temporary drop to the Championship. Following the independent commission’s ruling that the club was guilty of over 100 financial breaches, several club executives have voiced that a single-season relegation would be inadequate given the gravity of the offenses.
The commission concluded that the club engaged in a “disguised funding scheme” and utilized “sham commercial deals” to artificially inflate revenue by £900 million between 2009 and 2018. This activity allowed the club to bypass spending constraints that would have otherwise triggered regulatory breaches across multiple seasons. Consequently, rival clubs are arguing that the punishment must be severe enough to reflect years of deliberate rule-breaking and serve as a robust deterrent.
An anonymous club source stated that relegating City for a single season is insufficient for addressing the scale of these sustained violations. Meanwhile, the legal path forward involves the same commission that delivered the initial guilty verdict, which will determine sanctions following the conclusion of an appeal process. That appeal is managed by a separate, newly appointed independent panel. The same independent commission that found City guilty of the vast majority of 115 rule breaches will determine their fate at a sanctions hearing pending the outcome of the club’s appeal, which will be heard by a newly convened independent panel.
New regulations effective this season require that the appeal hearing conclude within 12 weeks of the submission deadline, which fell this past Friday. The panel then has 30 days to issue a final judgment, potentially setting a resolution date by late January. While the sanctions hearing could theoretically run concurrently with the appeal, any penalties imposed will remain pending until the final outcome is determined. City retains the right to launch further appeals against any specific sanctions applied.
There remains a possibility that Manchester City may challenge the application of these expedited rules, arguing they should not apply to historical charges. The club has previously demonstrated a capacity for procedural delays, as evidenced by the time taken to publish the commission’s “core decision,” which was only finalized this Tuesday.
As the prosecuting body, the Premier League board—chaired by Alison Brittain, chief executive Richard Masters, and independent directors Mai Fyfield, Dharmash Mistry, and Matthew Ryder KC—will navigate the sanctioning phase independently. Options available to the commission include severe points deductions, transfer bans, or outright expulsion from the league. Because of the magnitude of these findings, the commission noted that no direct precedents exist for comparison. Of Everton three years ago for a £19.5m overspend, the Premier League pushed for the club to be docked 12 points in the sanctioning hearing, with the independent commission ultimately docking them 10 points, which was reduced to six on appeal, in the first successful profitability and sustainability rules prosecution.
The legal landscape is further complicated by the risk of civil litigation. Clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, and Liverpool have already reserved their rights to sue following the guilty verdict, with informal discussions regarding potential claims already underway. This follows the precedent set by Burnley, who successfully secured £35 million in arbitration after suing Everton over a Profitability and Sustainability Rule (PSR) breach. Which they claimed led to their relegation at the end of the 2021-22 season, a decision that has set a precedent for clubs claiming compensation following regulatory offences, burnley were awarded £35m at an arbitration hearing earlier this year after suing Everton on the back of their PSR breach.
Many top-flight clubs remain frustrated by the league’s previous handling of financial misconduct, particularly the £10 million fine issued to Chelsea earlier this year for historic payments to players and agents. With City insisting they are “innocent of the accusations” and maintaining the existence of evidence to support their defense, the upcoming months of legal proceedings remain critical for the future of the Premier League. The extent of their ill-feeling towards City illustrates the difficulties facing the Premier League as it seeks to conclude a case it began investigating almost eight years ago, while the clubs have no involvement in the sanctioning process.
