Man City have responded to the bombshell statement from the Premier League regarding alleged FFP breaches by the club.
On Monday morning, the league announced that they have handed over a whole host of financial breaches to a Commission. According to the PL, Man City have broken numerous FFP regulations by failing to give accurate info about finances. This dates back as far as the 2009/10 season through to 2017/18.
These breaches allege that City have not been fully transparent with their revenue, in particular from sponsors. As part of this, the club have also potentially flouted league rules on profitability and sustainability.
Additionally, the Citizens did not apparently provide the full salary details of Roberto Mancini’s contract. The Italian was manager at the Etihad from 2009 to 2013. There are also some issues with player contracts during the period of 2010 to 2016 which are under investigation, too.
But that’s not all. On top of this, Man City also broke Premier League rules by being allegedly in breach of UEFA FFP regulations.
Finally, the club need to provide the league with documents for each season from 2018/19 through to the current campaign.
This massive announcement is very serious news for the reigning champions, who will have to defend themselves in front of a commission once more. Previously, City had to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn a UEFA European ban.
Now, the club made an announcement in response to the Premier League’s claims.
Man City make statement amid FFP breach drama
City posted a statement to their website where they expressed their “surprise” at the PL’s news.
“Manchester City is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules,” read the announcement. “Particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with.
“The club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent Commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.
“As such, we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.”
Despite the mountain of alleged breaches, City are standing defiant against the claims of wrongdoing. But, if the commission decides that Man City have broken FFP, what sort of punishment could they face?
Potential punishments from a Premier League Commission
According to section W.51.4 of the Premier League handbook, there are numerous punishments to choose from.
Firstly, a commission can decide to suspend a club from participating in fixtures for a set period. This would mean that City have to forfeit X amount of games, thus losing points. Their teams in PL 2 and youth leagues could also be affected by a suspension.
Alternatively, the league has the right to impose a points deduction on the club. This could be an in-season one, like Juventus received from Serie A in January.
Another option – and also the most shocking one – is that the commission can recommend expelling City from the League. However, they cannot do this outright. The current 20 sides in the division would have to hold a vote at a general meeting for this to happen. From this vote, clubs would need a three-quarters majority in order to exclude another team from the Premier League.
Other punishments may involve transfer restrictions, such as a spending cap, or a ban on new signings.
Finally, the arguably most likely conclusion of any commission would be a fine. This can be of an unlimited amount, though – so could be a big one.
The full investigation will take months to reach its conclusion. Therefore, numerous experts do not expect it to have an impact on the 2022/23 season. Despite this, all football fans will watch on interestedly to see how it plays out.
Featured image credit: Getty
