What Sanctions Could Manchester City Face After Financial Breach Verdict?

Manchester City have been found liable for serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, but the club has not yet been punished.

An independent commission found City guilty of charges covering nine seasons, from 2009/10 to 2017/18. The findings include misstated financial information, arrangements that artificially inflated revenues and reduced costs, breaches of Premier League and UEFA spending limits, and failures to cooperate with the league’s investigation.

Manchester City intend to appeal the findings.

What sanctions could City face?

The punishment will be decided at a separate hearing. Possible sanctions include a fine, points deduction and other sporting penalties. More severe sporting consequences could also be considered under the Premier League’s disciplinary framework, but no final sanction has been announced.

Why would relegation be complicated?

If the eventual punishment involved removing City from the Premier League, the timing could create a major logistical problem.

The 2026/27 season is already underway. The Premier League would then have to determine how to restructure the competition if City were no longer a member.

Would the league continue with 19 clubs? Would another club be reprieved from relegation? Or would another team be promoted to restore the numbers?

The rules already contain mechanisms for dealing with a Premier League club losing its membership. Under the EFL regulations, if a Premier League club loses membership under the relevant Premier League rule, relegation places from the Championship and League One can be reduced to restore those divisions to 24 clubs. The EFL can also admit a club to League Two to restore its overall membership to 72.

That means replacing Manchester City would not necessarily involve simply selecting another club to take their Premier League place. The knock-on effect could run through the English football pyramid.

And what about the 72 EFL clubs?

Any move involving City entering the EFL would also have to be handled under EFL rules and could raise questions about where and when the club would enter the competition.

With the season already in progress, implementing a dramatic change would be considerably more complicated than imposing a points deduction while City remain in the Premier League.

For now, however, these are potential consequences, not confirmed outcomes.

City appeal verdict

Manchester City have until Friday, October 2, to exercise their right of appeal against the commission’s findings.

The appeal and the separate sanctions process mean there are still several stages before the final consequences for the club are known. The Premier League has said it wants the full process concluded as quickly as possible.