Manchester City face an uncertain future after being found guilty of more than 100 breaches of Premier League financial rules in a bombshell verdict that former player Micah Richards described as “devastating”.
The Abu Dhabi-backed super-club were found to have arranged “sham” deals to artificially inflate revenues and reduce costs by more than £900 million ($1.2 billion) between 2009 and 2018.
In doing so they concealed the true state of their finances and avoided breaching Premier League and UEFA spending limits during a period in which they won three league titles.
An independent commission found the club guilty on all charges related to breaches of financial rules over the nine-year period.
They have also been found guilty of most of the charges they faced in relation to a failure to cooperate with a Premier League investigation.
City, who continue to deny any wrongdoing, have vowed to appeal and have until Friday to do so.
The ruling has sent shockwaves through English football and cast doubt over the future of a club that has become a European giant.
The likely punishment is uncertain but according to Premier League rules, City could face a substantial points deduction, a fine or even expulsion from the top division.
Everton and Nottingham Forest were handed points deductions in the 2023/24 season for single breaches of financial sustainability rules.
On that basis, City would likely face relegation given the sheer weight of the case against them.
There is speculation they could even be stripped of their titles.
“If the appeal fails, Manchester City cannot stay in the league, they have to suffer. And I say that as a supporter and a fan,” said the club’s former chairman, David Bernstein.
Another factor is a potential flood of compensation claims that could cost the club hundreds of millions.
Former Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow told the BBC that clubs would be “queuing up to seek compensation”.
‘Heartbreaking’
Former City defender Richards, who was part of the side that won the club’s first top-flight league title for 44 years in 2012, said the uncertainty was “heartbreaking”.
“The reports were troubling. I saw the words which were used by the Premier League in sham contracts and I felt absolutely devastated,” Richards said on The Rest is Football podcast.
“I’ve been at that club since I was 14 years old, I would die for that club. I achieved my dream at Manchester City, but then to hear these reports, and not only me as an ex-player, but the fans, what they have to go through, absolutely devastating.”
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said he felt sorry both for City’s players and those of other clubs who missed out on winning trophies.
“I feel for the players… they’ll almost feel like a lot of their career is going to have an asterisk, or a lot of people will be calling it a sham,” he said on Sky Sports News.
“The players were told everything was fine, they would never get done for anything. What the hierarchy are coming out with now, they’re just gaslighting.”
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters described the disciplinary case and the decision as the “most significant in Premier League history”.
“The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League rules for nearly a decade,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
Masters said the Premier League was committed to moving swiftly to provide certainty for the league, clubs and fans.
City have become the Premier League’s dominant force since the 2008 takeover by Sheikh Mansour, the vice-president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.
They have won eight league titles as well as multiple cups over the past 15 years, lifting the Champions League for the first time in 2023.
In that year the Premier League charged the club with more than 100 rule breaches and a hearing was held by the independent commission in 2024.
City are next in action against Liverpool at Anfield on October 11, where they will take on the club who have been their closest challengers over the past decade.
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