City facing expulsion
‹Defending champions charged by Premier League with 115 alleged breaches of its financial regulations ‹Bombshell allegations, if proven, would amount to one of the biggest scandals in English football history
Manchester City are facing the threat of expulsion from the top flight after being charged by the Premier League with more than 100 alleged breaches of its financial regulations.
The Premier League champions were yesterday hit by an astonishing catalogue of charges covering 14 seasons from 2009-10 to the current campaign which, if proven, would amount to one of the biggest scandals in English football history.
The bombshell revelations follow a four-year investigation by the Premier League that has culminated in the club being charged with allegedly breaching 115 regulations. City could face an unprecedented range of punishments including a suspension, points deductions, sweeping fines and the ultimate sanction of expulsion from the League.
An independent disciplinary committee – which is set to be selected and could yet be chaired by Murray Rosen KC – will hear the charges in private. No timescale has been announced by the Premier League but an executive at one topflight club told Telegraph Sport there was an “eagerness” for an outcome before the end of the season.
City were banned for two years from European competition by Uefa in 2020 for alleged breaches of its financial fair play rules but the club successfully overturned that suspension in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. However, there will not be an option for City to appeal to Cas against any Premier League sanctions as the European court is not recognised by the clubs. Instead, City would have to pursue options via London law courts.
One of the Premier League clubs outside the so-called Big Six said they welcomed the charges against
In a statement released yesterday morning, the Premier League said: “The Premier League confirms that it has today referred a number of alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules by Manchester City Football Club to a commission.”
The Premier League first opened its investigation into City in March 2019 and the scale of the alleged breaches is eye-watering. The charges relating to financial reporting span nine seasons from 2009/10 to 2017/18. Additionally, City have been charged with not co-operating with the investigation
and not handing over documents as required over a five-season period from 2018/19 to this season.
Some of the charges also pertain to the club allegedly failing to provide full details around their former manager Roberto Mancini’s pay between 2009 and 2013 and not providing “full details of player remuneration in its relevant contracts with players” from 2010/11 to 2015/16, both of which are required under Premier League rules.
City expressed “surprise” at the Premier League’s move and said they would welcome the commission’s hearing as a chance to put allegations of financial impropriety that have dogged the club for years “to rest once and for all”.
The club said there was a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support” of their position.
Senior sources at City told Telegraph Sport they believed the timing of the Premier League’s announcement was no coincidence with a long-awaited government White Paper on football governance due imminently.
Insiders at the club feel it is part of a strategy by the Premier League to show it is capable of adequate governance amid calls for an independent football regulator. “This is tactical,” one source said.
Kieran Maguire, a lecturer in football finance at the University of Liverpool, also questioned the timing of the announcement and said there had been a clear political advantage in doing so.
Within an hour of the Premier League’s statement, it was confirmed that the proposed changes to football regulation had been delayed by a fortnight and that the government White Paper would not be published until Feb 20 at the earliest.
Eyebrows were also raised at City that the club were not given any warning of the charges until a courier delivered legal papers from the Premier League to the Etihad Stadium. It was around the same time that Ferran Soriano, the City chief executive, was first informed of the news just as it was about to go live on the Premier League’s website.
When City’s Uefa ban was overturned in July 2020, Cas ruled that “most of the alleged breaches were either not established or timebarred”.
There are no such time restrictions under Premier League rules, although it is understood that City are confident they would have been vindicated by Cas even if some of the breaches were not “time-barred”. City are confident of clearing their name in relation to the Premier League charges.
The commission panel is set to be appointed by Rosen, who is chairman of the Premier League’s judicial panel. He can appoint himself but may opt not to.
Under rule W.50 of the Premier League’s regulations, the commission has the power to suspend a club, deduct points and “recommend that the League expels the respondent from membership” of the League among an array of other sanctions.
City’s battle with the Premier League has been ongoing for years. In July 2021, it emerged following a Court of Appeal decision that City had challenged the jurisdiction of an arbitration panel set up by the Premier League and were unsuccessful in challenging demands to hand over documents and information.
Of the Premier League investigation, Lord Justice Males, one of the judges, said in the ruling that it was “surprising, and a matter of legitimate public concern, that so little progress has been made after two and a half years – during which, it may be noted, the club has twice been crowned as Premier League champions”.
Sir Julian Flaux, the chancellor of the High Court, said City’s attempts to prevent their challenge being reported in public were “fanciful”.
He said: “The suggestion that press interest and speculation might disrupt the investigation or the arbitration, where both are being conducted by experienced professionals, is entirely fanciful.
“Likewise the suggestion that press comment and speculation following publication might damage the club’s relations with commercial partners was unconvincing.”