Manchester City have been rocked by an announcement from the Premier League which accuses the club of over 100 breaches of financial fair play rules.
The alleged breaches were committed across nine different seasons beginning in 2009/10. They include allegations of providing inaccurate financial information, breaches in relation to player and manager remuneration and breaches of aiding the Premier League’s investigation, which was launched four years ago.
City later issued their own statement which said the announcement came as a “surprise” and that they would use “irrefutable evidence” to put the matter “to rest once and for all”. The statement read: “ Manchester City FC is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules, 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.”
The bombshell news came after City’s 1-0 defeat by Tottenham on Sunday and is likely to have an impact on Pep Guardiola and his players as they try to chase down Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title and win the club’s first Champions League trophy. But it could also have other far-reaching implications.
The matter is set to rumble on for quite some time yet, with an independent judicial panel being set up by the Premier League to examine the case and make a final decision.
If the entire case is concluded and City were found guilty, then the Premier League would hand out punishments. Currently, the league is refusing to comment on what those punishments might be – and there is no precedent in the division to rely on.
Expulsion from the Premier League is possible, if the commission finds City guilty of enough of the charges. That is the harshest of all the possible punishments, with financial penalties and points deductions the less draconian measures that could be taken.
Then there is the question of what would happen to the Premier League titles City won during the period they are alleged to have broken financial rules. The whole of the league will be watching with interest to see how the matter plays out, but two clubs will be particularly interested.
City claimed the trophy in three of the seasons being investigated – 2011/12, 2013/14 and 2017/18. In those seasons, the runners up were Manchester United on two occasions and Liverpool in one campaign.
In the Premier League rules, there is no explicit mention of stripping titles retrospectively, but there is a clause which leaves open the possibility. It says the Premier League can “make such other order as it thinks fit”.
While there is no precedent in the Premier League for retrospectively stripping titles and awarding them to the team who finished second, there is in Italy. As part of the widespread Calciopoli scandal, Juventus were stripped of the 2004/05 and 2005/06 Serie A titles.
Although the 2004/05 title was left unassigned, the 2005/06 trophy was retrospectively awarded to Inter Milan. Juve were relegated to Serie B, fined and deducted points as well for their role in the refereeing scandal.
Manchester City won’t find out for some time whether three of their Premier League titles will be scrubbed from the record, and any talk of this happening is pure speculation at this stage. But a look back over the seasons in question highlights what they potentially have to lose.
The 2010/11 title was their first in the Premier League era – and one of the most memorable in the league’s history. It was won by Sergio Aguero’s famous 94th-minute winner against Queens Park Rangers. Manchester United were the victims that day, missing out on the title on goal difference.
City's second title came in 2013/14 and saw Liverpool finish second after Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip against Chelsea saw them implode and surrender their lead in the final three games to lose the title by two points.
The final season under investigation is the 2017/18 campaign, which saw City reach 100 points and finish a whopping 19 clear of United in second. City were utterly dominant from start to finish that season, breaking all sorts of records, which included most points (100), most wins (32), most goals (106), most consecutive league wins (18) and highest goal difference (+79).
Overall, City have won eight league titles in their history, six of which have come in the Premier League era. Three of those came in seasons which are now under investigation.
