An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty on 114 of 115 Premier League charges, which City deny and will appeal. How hard should they be punished?
The breaches ran from 2009-10 to 2017-18, and the commission found City's schemes inflated revenue and cut costs by more than £900m. Sanctions will be set at a separate hearing and could range from fines and points deductions to expulsion. City, currently top of the league, say they are innocent.
What happened
On 29 September the Premier League announced that an independent commission had found Manchester City guilty on 114 of the 115 charges against them; the one not upheld related to cooperating with the investigation. The breaches covered the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons and included "sham" sponsorship contracts, inflated Abu Dhabi sponsorship figures and hidden payments topping up manager and player pay. The commission found revenue was inflated and costs cut by more than £900m. City say they are innocent and have until 2 October to appeal.
Why people disagree
Supporters of a severe sanction say the breaches lasted nine seasons, far beyond the cases of Everton (docked 10 points, cut to 6 on appeal) and Nottingham Forest (4 points), and finance expert Kieran Maguire says penalties should "add a zero". Others say today's players and fans weren't involved, punishing City before the appeal risks relegations being overturned, and in 2020 the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned UEFA's European ban on the club.
What's still unclear
Sanctions will be set at a separate hearing with no date yet. Under Rule W64 the options include fines, points deductions and expulsion, and stripping titles is theoretically possible. It is unclear how long City's appeal to a new three-person panel will take.
Sources
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