With the news of their numerous breaches of Financial Fair Play, the question on everyone’s mind now is what punishment could Manchester City face if found guilty?
The reigning champions were charged with more than 100 breaches of FFP regulations on Monday following the conclusion of a four-year investigation by the English top flight.
Despite the club denying the allegations as they did with the previous UEFA sanctions, eventually having their two-year ban overturned and the fine reduced by two-thirds, they cannot appeal the decision through the same means as last time and it looks increasingly likely that at least some charges will stick.
That being said, there a numerous steps that the Premier League, FA and other governing football bodies could take next if they are found guilty of even a portion of the offences.
Manchester City: The charges explained – and why it has taken so long. Background of the biggest scandal to have hit the Premier League:https://t.co/ex5hsZkhkj
Here are some possible options being suggested at present:
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What action could be taken against Manchester City?
1. Fines
The first and most obvious ramification for their alleged financial infractions is a simple fine: typically the most common outcome whenever clubs find themselves in hot water when it comes to rule breaches.
When they were alleged to have gone beyond UEFA’s FFP regulations back in February 2020, they were initially slapped with a £30 million fine before it was eventually reduced to £10m not long after.
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However, given the length and severity of this latest raft of accusations — at least a century of offences for nearly a decade — any penalt(ies) would likely result in a much more considerable total sum or even compensation paid to other clubs.
2. Points deduction
One of the most popular suggestions thus far is that City should suffer a points deduction in the current 2022/23 season, not unlike the action recently taken against Juventus for also failing to declare the full truth about the nature of their finances.
How the table could look if Man City were docked 15pts, as Juventus have been this season 👀📊 pic.twitter.com/HiImv9PPJR
The Italian giants were docked 15 points for “false accounting” and could even face a further 20-point bombshell for “undeclared wage payments” to players and other members of staff thought to date back to at least March 2020.
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City are accused of similar during Roberto Mancini’s tenure, the man who helped them lift their first Premier League title, as well as with members of their squad in at least two seasons, including as recently as the 2015/16 campaign.
Once again, the supposed offences committed at the Etihad are said to date from 2009 to at least 2018, when the club “stopped cooperating” with the inquiry. If the independent commission find evidence to punish for this period and perhaps beyond, it’s hard to say if points alone would be sufficient enough.
3. Stripped of titles
Alternatively, another possibility is that the now six-time Premier League winners could be stripped of every single one of their titles since their 2008 takeover, meaning the narrative of the last few years would look very different indeed:
While obviously a more severe choice, it is perfectly plausible — especially when considering Juventus once again, who were also hit with this punishment back in 2006 after the ‘Calciopoli’ scandal which saw them stripped of their previous two titles due to match-fixing, pressuring officials and more.
Given that the charges lobbied against City are strictly related to the Premier League, it would be unlikely that any of their other trophies won over the nine-year period in question would be rescinded, but you never know; the inquiry could spark further investigation.
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4. Relegation/expulsion from the Premier League
While many have mooted that they feel the Blues should be issued with a ban from the competition — the length of which could be significant given the prolonged offending period and for football fans to make peace with potentially 9-14 years of financial wrongdoings.
However, circling back to the Juventus example once more, the ‘Old Lady’ was also relegated to Serie B (the Italian second division) for the first time in their history after Calciopoli. If that was the judgement for two years of breaches, what sort of punishment would fit City after nearly a decade, maybe more?
Keeping that in mind, it has also been suggested that the club could be expelled from the league. Though a permanent expulsion would be extremely improbable, with this course of action by far the most brutal, the problem again is deciding how long to expel/suspend them and whether to do so immediately or for the following season(s). Again, this is the most unlikely outcome of them all.
While this list is obviously not exhaustive, Sky Sports shared a graphic on social media the various steps the commission could seek as Manchester City’s punishment.
The punishments that the independent commission could impose on Manchester City: pic.twitter.com/CsDzCmJ7PF
Moreover, as alluded to earlier, City cannot appeal CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) like they did last time according the current Premier League regulations. This means that, in theory, whatever the commission finds and the league ultimately says goes.
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You can see the full list of charges levelled against Manchester City HERE.
What punishment do you think would be suitable for Manchester City’s litany of FFP breaches?
The Premier League and EFL should follow La Liga’s lead and bring Retro Matchdays to the UK
Danny Jones
Following the news that La Liga is set to debut a new ‘Retro Matchday’ round, we can’t help but ask the question: why didn’t the Premier League and EFL think of this first?
Well, technically, neither did the Spaniards, but you take our point.
Anyone who follows the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or even the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) equivalent here in the UK and mainland Europe, will know that the concept is nothing new – but by and large, it seems to be for the beautiful game.
In case you missed it, in an effort to further capitalise on the increasing trend of vintage and classic football kit fashion/the wider nostalgia culture that only seems to be growing every year, Spain’s top two tiers will soon host their inaugural Retro Matchday gameweek next month, and we want a piece of it.
Set to be hosted from Friday, 10 April, over the usual weekend of football in their premier and second division, and running until the final lot of fixtures on Monday, 13 April (no, thankfully not an April Fool’s), supporters will get to see players step out onto the pitch in some of the country’s most iconic kits.
Depending on who you ask, some would argue that Spain has some of the nicest footy shirts all time, whether that be the national side or clubs themselves.
To be honest, we definitely have a soft spot for a proper European throwback – we’re thinking Borussia Dortmund’s 1995/96 home kit, the Napoli kits of the 80s, that amazing Toyota-sponsored Fila Fiorentina kit at the turn of the millennium – and even some of the best 2000s ones now look so old-school.
In fact, we actually had a taster of these kinds of special matches in the past, including here in 0161 for the likes of the Manchester Derby.
Reminds me of the Manchester derby in 2008 where they played in retro kits due to it coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster. Looked absolutely brilliant. pic.twitter.com/TLRjKHThbG
When you also take into account that, besides collectors already creating a whole new craze in filling their cupboards with classic kits, the likes of Nike, Adidas and more now regularly turning to old designs like the ‘Futura’, Total 90′ and various ‘adi Originals’ revivals of late, it’s more the rage than ever.
Birmingham’s recent ‘penguin’ remake, Port Vale’s traditional 150th anniversary one, based on their 1953-54 season jersey, not to mention countless other lifestyle fashion collections inspired by historic releases, you can’t move for the stuff – so why not get them wearing it on the grass?
As mentioned, the likes of local ice hockey outfit Manchester Storm have been taking a leaf out of the NHL’s book for ages now, with the annual ‘Retro Nights’ proving to be some of the most popular dates on the calendar, even selling off original shirts in the stadium itself before, during and after the match.
We genuinely can’t think of a single football lover following a team at any level in the English football pyramid that wouldn’t LOVE this. In fact, plenty of them already go to the ground wearing their dad’s second-hand away strip, which has turned out to be a modern cult favourite among the next generation.
These are the kinds of ideas we can see fans actually getting behind; you can find out more HERE. Would you like to see a retro Premier League and/or EFL match day featuring your favourite kits from down the years?
Liam Broady is on the comeback – here’s why you need to watch out for him at Wimbledon
The Manc
Local tennis player Liam Broady is quietly rising back up the ranks on the ITF Tour, and here’s why we think you should watch out for him come Wimbledon 2026 this summer.
He is physical proof that the ATP Tour ranking means so much to a player’s career.
The Stockport-born tennis player has suffered many injury setbacks since turning pro in 2014. With a host of ankle and back injuries plaguing his playing career, he has had to turn to the ITF (International Tennis Federation) Tour to climb the rankings once again.
He is currently placed at 283* on the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Tour after reaching two semi-finals in the space of a month.
With wins on two of Portugal’s hard courts in Faro and Santo António, the 32-year-old has climbed from rank 303 at the start of the year to under the threshold in less than three months.
His hard work on outdoor courts is paying off as his seeding is slowly improving, and his opponents are becoming less of a challenge.
For the unititated, the ATP ranking is decided by a points system that determines your playing level, and therefore who you can possibly draw, with lower seeds getting tougher games as they need more points, and vice versa.
These point tallies factor into every win, loss, serve, and shot as it propels you up or down the table.
With an injury over Christmas, the Stopfordian Team GB player came back stronger for the start of the annual tournament calendar and now looks to be in fighting form on the ITF Tour.
He’s definitely had to tackle some obstacles over the years, both on and off the court…
Competing solely on outdoor hard courts to gain his fitness levels back is necessary, but the grass courts – his speciality – will come around with time and consistent form, with Wimbledon being his home tournament and his highlight of the competitive calendar.
His career best ranking was 93, after becoming the first British wildcard entry to beat an ATP top five player in 2023 when defeating Casper Rudd on Wimbledon’s centre court.
His win against the Norwegian in round two sent him into the top 100 rankings for the first time, and into the shining spotlight alongside British tennis stars.
The adverse effects of time away from the tour are clear to see with Broady’s peaks and dips in the table below; this means taking a hit to player motivation, game-to-game momentum and teamworking within doubles pairs.
Liam Broady’s career rankings progression chart. (Credit: ATP Tour)
It is a likely situation for players to neglect their doubles career without the added stress of injury, so if they are to arise, it does not just impact individual physicality levels but also communication between doubles pairs.
A fellow British player with similar injury problems is Emma Raducanu, who rose to fame with a shocking US Open grand slam win as a qualifier. Since her win, she has had multiple surgeries, which saw her plummet down WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) standings due to time spent off court.
The issues that come with injury upsets can make a career really difficult to reclaim, even at a young age; tour rankings can be brutal on game time and match opponents, such as Broady’s Wimbledon draw against Holland’s Van De Zandschulp and Raducanu’s recent draw against American no.3 Anisimova.
We hope to see Team GB’s athletes fit and ready to fight on tour, and we have a strong feeling we’ll see native talent Broady back in the spotlight where he belongs.
Danny Jones -
6th February 2023 
