For the past decade, Manchester City have reigned supreme over the English topflight which has been greatly merited with their numerous domestic titles and cups, yet there is now a growing concern around the Etihad Stadium that City’s high spending power may have majorly intervened or even breached financial fair play regulations.
In 2008, the previously dormant Manchester City side saw a major financial takeover when multi-billionaire UAE native Sheikh Mansour completed a monumental move to purchase the club from former Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was infamously on the run from the Thai government.
In the year’s following this incredible takeover, Mansour was quick to increase the overall spending in the club’s mediocre squad and change the culture surrounding the side as major contenders to their arch rivals Manchester United atop the Premier League table.
After Mansour’s initial investment, City have won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, six League Cups and finished as Runners-Up in the UEFA Champions League, which is currently the only major trophy that the Mancunian side is yet to claim.
City are currently favorites to win their third Premier League title in a row and the seventh in team history, with fans of the English game now being able to bet online for all outright Premier League odds on the DraftKings sportsbook.
However, amidst all the team’s recent success, an investigation has been launched suggesting that City have broken several cases of Financial Fair Play charges across the past decade during previous Premier League transfer windows, leaving many to ponder as to what punishments are expected to follow should the side lose their commission case and how great of an impact this will have on the entire English footballing pyramid.
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What are the charges that City have allegedly impeached?
City have already been widely investigated for prior impeachments of footballing laws and fair play regulations with their most recent case coming back in July of 2020 when the club had a two-year suspension overturned from UEFA club competitions by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after initial pledges of being found guilty of ‘serious breaches’ of FFP regulations between the years of 2012 and 2016.
The more recent allegations that have dispersed have also expressed similar cases of FFP breaches in prior Premier League campaigns from 2009 through to 2018 which relates to broken rules in the provision of ‘accurate financial information’.
It has been widely discussed that a vast number of these breaches in FFP could result in numerous punishments being handed out to the reigning league champions after a consensus is reached during a private and confidential commission between the Premier League’s Judicial Panel.
This sudden breaking news has sent the footballing world into a frenzy with many of the game’s top media personalities are already proclaiming that these such breaches of FFP will likely result in the club being served a considerable punishment that is likely to far exceed anything handed out in the English game before.
City have acted quickly by hiring renowned lawyer Lord Pannick KC to act as their representative in the case.
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What punishments could City likely face if they are found guilty?
The overall list of lively punishments could stem from a major fine to demotion from the football league and even the possibility of replaying former matches.
According to Section W.51.4 from the Premier League’s official rules and regulations, should the following sanctions be true and accurate to the ones alleged, then these are the potential outcomes that the club could have to face:
- Unlimited quantity of fine.
- A club suspension from playing in league matches, with an unlimited timescale.
- Deduction of points.
- Replay past games.
- Permanent expulsion
- Also the likely implementation of any other order that the commission may seem fit.
Clearly, these are some very concerning punishments that the club may likely never recuperate from for both their short-term and long-term future plans.
Another rising concern that has continued to gain traction is the future surrounding the club’s legendary manager Pep Guardiola who could very likely leave the side under various circumstances as the Spaniard’s future at the Etihad has been placed under question numerous times, even after the extension that he signed back in November.
City are also likely to lose several star names including Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Ruben Dias among others as they will possibly receive other lucrative offers from a number of Europe’s top clubs.
Whatever action is taken, if any, that is deemed applicable and warranted from this developing case, this is certainly a challenging period for the club and its reputation as City fans will now nervously await any sort of decision that will likely affect the club’s status in the top flight.
