Man City’s rivals reveal how they really feel about the Premier League expulsion after 114 charges proved true
Manchester City is facing the serious possibility of being kicked out of the Premier League after being found guilty of 114 charges related to financial wrongdoing and not cooperating with the investigation. The Premier League shared the results of an independent review on Tuesday, after looking into the club for years.
Getting kicked out is just one of the punishments the Premier League can give. Others include transfer bans and losing points, but reports say that removing City from the league is now a real option.
The charges against City include exaggerating sponsorship money, hiding costs, making secret payments to staff, breaking financial fair play rules, and not following the investigation properly. The club says they are innocent and plans to appeal, but dealing with the punishment is now the main focus. Expulsion seems like a real possibility.
Miguel Delaney from The Independent wrote, “Just docking points doesn’t seem enough. The damage done has been too big. To expel them, a special vote from 15 shareholders is needed, and it looks like they might get that. Whether City can win an appeal is unsure since the rules are strict. Many believe they will challenge the process like they did with UEFA, but this one is said to be very solid.”
Other clubs like Portsmouth, Everton, and Nottingham Forest have lost points over financial issues before, but no team has ever been kicked out. City has been caught cheating on a massive scale and could be the first.
Delaney also called it “football’s worst ever scandal” and said the punishment should match the seriousness of this.
City’s chance of winning an appeal may be small because of the rules, but the Premier League has many options for punishment. According to Rule W.51 in the Premier League handbook, City could face fines, points deductions, or even expulsion.
There could also be unusual punishments, like replaying matches, being suspended from playing, bans on signing new players, or cancelling current player registrations. Some punishments are more likely than others, but whatever happens will be important for the future fairness of the league.
In other news, Man City’s Chief Executive sent a video to staff saying the guilty verdict is based on “one false accusation.”