The Football Association has confirmed it has powers to take disciplinary action against Manchester City and key individuals at the club in the governing body’s first comment since City were found guilty of multiple breaches of financial regulations.
The FA said the independent commission’s decision on City had “significant implications for the integrity of the game” and that it “will take action where appropriate.”
City intend to appeal against the verdict of the commission, who after a 42-hearing concluded the club had used a “Disguised Funding Scheme” and “sham contracts” to boost their income by more than £900m between 2009 and 2018.
The FA will wait until the appeal process has concluded, which based on the Premier League’s rulebook should be by the end of January, before deciding whether to take action but confirmed it was monitoring the case closely.
The FA also has powers to take action against individuals proven to have broken rules and/or acted dishonestly, which the commission concluded had been the case.
The names of those involved were redacted in the 40-page core judgment published this week but the FA could ask the Premier League for an unredacted version.
“The Independent Commission’s decision has significant implications for the integrity of the game,” the FA statement read. “We are carefully considering the decision and its implications and will take action where appropriate.
“As proceedings between the Premier League and Manchester City Football Club remain ongoing, we do not intend to comment further at this stage. We will, however, continue to monitor developments closely.”
The FA’s standard practice is to wait for disciplinary proceedings conducted by leagues, such as the Premier League or EFL, to run their course before taking action.
In July the FA fined Chelsea £10m and imposed a suspended two-window transfer ban after the club admitted 74 breaches of its agent regulations, four months after the Premier League fined them £10.75m for the same offences, which related to unlawful payments to players and agents.
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The FA has additional powers to take action against individuals, although did not do so in the Chelsea case because those involved are no longer working in football.
The FA charged Southampton’s manager, Tonda Eckert, with misconduct for his role in the so-called Spygate saga involving Middlesbrough this summer, with a disciplinary hearing taking place last month that could result in the German being given a lengthy ban from football.
