Five Premier League Officials to Help Determine Manchester City’s Fate
The case over alleged financial breaches by Manchester City is moving towards the penalty stage. The Premier League board has a role in recommending a sanction, while the final decision rests with an independent three-member commission. The club continues to maintain its innocence and has appealed the ruling.
The case over alleged financial breaches by Manchester City is moving towards the penalty stage. The Premier League board has a role in recommending a sanction, while the final decision rests with an independent three-member commission. The club continues to maintain its innocence and has appealed the ruling.
The BBC reported that no date has been set for a sanctions hearing, and it remains unclear what kind of penalty the league will recommend. The possibilities under consideration include a fine, a points deduction or expulsion from the competition, as well as the possibility of stripping the club of previous titles.
The league’s board consists of its chair, Alison Brittain, chief executive Richard Masters and three independent members: May Fifield, Dharmash Mistry and Matthew Ryder. Masters has previously defended the pursuit of Manchester City, saying that enforcing the rules is necessary to protect the integrity of the competition, while acknowledging that the sanction remains an unresolved matter.
Previous league cases suggest that commission decisions can differ from the league’s recommendations: Everton’s penalty was reduced from a 12-point deduction to ten, and then to six, on appeal, while the commission deducted four points from Nottingham Forest after the league recommended eight. In Leicester City’s case, the commission recommended a six-point deduction instead of the 12 points sought by the league.
In a separate case, the league and Chelsea reached an agreement this year that resulted in a fine of £10 million and the suspension of a potential transfer ban. This followed the club’s admission that it had made secret payments of £47 million to unregistered agents and third parties connected to deals between 2011 and 2018. The club’s cooperation, voluntary disclosure and admission were considered mitigating factors.
The report says Manchester City’s case differs from those precedents in the scale of the allegations and their potential consequences, and that the Premier League board’s recommendation will be among the factors influencing the process before the final decision is issued.