What are the 114 charges Manchester City were found guilty of and what punishment will they get?
Calls for Manchester City to be relegated after being found guilty of all but one charge
Manchester City is ready to play a long game to fight against potential repercussions after being found guilty of 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules
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The club is awaiting punishment after an independent panel found them guilty of all but one charge last week.
While talk continues of potential fines and points deductions, City chief executive Ferran Soriano has told his fellow European club bosses the already lengthy legal battle with the Premier League will take “a lot more time” to conclude.
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said: "The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the club's innocence is just as strong as when this began."
Read also: Man City CEO insists that FFP row will drag on further as club faces possible relegation
What were Manchester City found guilty of?
Manchester City have essentially been found guilty of 114 charges that relate to their financial conduct and performance between 2009/10 and 2017/18.
The charges fall within three broad categories:
- Disguising money from its ownership and instead falsely stating that the income had come in from sponsorship,
- Paying people without declaring it on its financial records,
- Not complying with the Premier League's investigation into their finances.
For the first two, the club has not complied with the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
The PSR measures were introduced in 2008-09 to stop clubs from spending far beyond their revenue, with clubs such as West Ham and Portsmouth having encountered financial problems as a result.
The rules were also intended to prevent "financial doping" from owners able to spend massive amounts of money on wages and transfer fees without needing to worry about outgoings.
There was one charge they were found not guilty of.
Manchester City has denied any wrongdoing and is set to appeal and fight the charges.
What are the 115 charges?
According to reports, the charges break down as follows:
- Failure to provide accurate financial information (54 charges),
- Failure to provide accurate remuneration details (14 charges),
- Breaching UEFA financial fair play regulations (five charges),
- Breaching Premier League profit and sustainability rules (seven charges),
- Failure to cooperate with investigations (35 charges).
It has not been stated which of the charges they were found not guilty of, nor has it been broken down further as to the exact nature of the 115 charges.
Manchester City were bought out by the Arab investment company Abu Dhabi United Group in August 2008 and they immediately began spending heavily on new players and infrastructure.
The club was immediately successful, winning the FA Cup in 2010-11 and the Premier League in 2011-12. Having been promoted in 2001-02, they had achieved an average Premier League finish of 14th by 2007-08.
Between 2009/10 and 2017/18, the period the charges relate to, they had an average finish of second.
What punishment will they get?
No punishment has been decided for Manchester City, and this will involve a whole separate process, with the club set to appeal against the guilty verdicts. Here are some of the punishment options that have been speculated:
Points deduction
Everton and Nottingham Forest were deducted six and four points, respectively, for breaching the league’s financial regulations, which suggests that a proportionate punishment could be given to Manchester City.
Everton were given the punishment after a single breach of the league's profit and sustainability rules, and 114 times six is a massive 684-point deduction - if it were to be awarded in proportion.
Last season, City finished second with 78 points, meaning a 39-point deduction would have been enough to see them relegated. They are currently top of the division with 15 points, having won five consecutive games.
Relegation to a lower division
In lower league divisions, it is not uncommon for sides to be given such a points penalty that they have been relegated from the league, with Sheffield Wednesday's demotion to League 1 being a recent example.
Rangers were relegated to Scottish League 2 when they entered administration and secured successive promotions to return to the Scottish Premiership.
Fine
A significant fine is likely to be at least one punishment given to Manchester City.
Ban on sponsorship
City's income would be limited if a ban on sponsorship was given, forcing the club to look for other revenue streams to balance the books.
Ban on transfers
Chelsea were given a two-transfer-window ban after breaching FIFA regulations in 2019 and also fined more than £460,000. The club, then managed by Frank Lampard, finished fourth in the subsequent season and fielded many home-grown players.
Owners stripped of "fit and proper" status
British football clubs are subject to a fit-and-proper ownership test which has seen several would-be applicants for ownership deemed unworthy of taking charge.
Other clubs to be awarded trophies won by Manchester City during the period
While this is an unprecedented move in English football, Juventus were stripped of the Serie A titles won in 2005 and 2006 amid the Calciopoli scandal.
Manchester United oldboy Wayne Rooney has said that his club does not deserve to be awarded any titles won by Manchester City during the period, telling a podcast, "I don't think we deserve it".