Manchester City’s Premier League rivals are pressing for a punishment that would keep the club out of the top flight for longer than a single season, after an independent commission found City guilty of more than 100 charges of financial rule breaking. Executives at a number of top-flight clubs believe a points deduction that merely relegated City to the Championship for one season would not match the scale of the breaches described by the commission as a “disguised funding scheme” and “sham commercial deals”. Those mechanisms, the commission found, allowed City to artificially inflate their income by £900m between 2009 and 2018.
The clubs have no formal role in the sanctioning process, but the extent of their ill-feeling underlines the pressure on the Premier League as it tries to conclude a case it began investigating almost eight years ago. The same commission that found City guilty of the vast majority of 115 rule breaches will determine their fate at a sanctions hearing, which is pending the outcome of the club’s appeal. That appeal will be heard by a newly convened independent panel. Sheikh Mansour and Khaldoon Al Mubarak have been City’s owner and chair respectively for the whole period covered by the rule breaches.
Under new Premier League rules introduced this season, the appeal hearing must be concluded within 12 weeks of Friday’s deadline for it to be submitted, with the panel then given a further 30 days to deliver its judgment. That means a decision should be reached by the end of January next year. The sanctions hearing could take place concurrently during the same period, although that is not confirmed, and it will not be published pending the outcome of the appeal. City could also subsequently appeal against the sanctions imposed by the commission, and may argue that the new expedited timescales should not apply because they were introduced this season while the charges against them are historic. The club has already succeeded in delaying publication of the commission’s “core decision”, which was finally released on Tuesday following an appeal procedure.
As prosecutor, the Premier League is permitted to petition for its preferred punishment at the sanctions hearing, where City will also plead their case before the commission takes a decision. The league’s position on sanctioning will be taken independently of the clubs by its board of directors: chair Alison Brittain, chief executive Richard Masters and independent non-executive directors Mai Fyfield, Dharmash Mistry and Matthew Ryder KC. The commission has a wide range of sanctions at its disposal, including points deductions, transfer embargoes and expulsion from the Premier League. Given the scale of City’s offences, the independent panel found there are no comparable precedents. City say they are “innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case”.
Everton’s case three years ago offers a recent comparison for how the Premier League has pursued a profit and sustainability rules breach. In the first successful prosecution under those rules, for a £19.5m overspend, the Premier League pushed for a 12-point deduction; the independent commission ultimately docked 10 points, reduced to six on appeal. Many clubs are now calling for a far more severe punishment for City, citing the commission’s conclusion that without the hugely inflated income they would have breached Premier League and UEFA spending limits in multiple seasons. They will also lobby to ensure the whole process is concluded before the end of the season.
A club source said: “Relegation to the Championship for one season would be insufficient. The commission has to arrive at a punishment that is proportionate for years of sustained and deliberate cheating, as well as providing a strong deterrent to it happening again.”
The Premier League is also eager to prevent further mass litigation against City by rivals seeking financial recompense. Burnley were awarded £35m at an arbitration hearing earlier this year after suing Everton on the back of their PSR breach, which Burnley claimed led to their relegation at the end of the 2021-22 season. That decision has set a precedent for clubs claiming compensation following regulatory offences. Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool all reserved their rights to sue City in the event of a guilty verdict two years ago, and have already held informal conversations about whether to pursue a claim now the judgment has been published. While those clubs will arrive at individual decisions, the extent of City’s punishment could prove critical to their thinking.
Many top-flight clubs also remain unhappy with the Premier League’s decision to reach an agreed sanction this year with Chelsea of a £10m fine after Chelsea self-reported the previous owners making unlawful payments to players and agents during the Roman Abramovich era.