In addition, City, who have been found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to their alleged failure to co-operate with the Premier League’s investigation, have until Friday to appeal the commission's verdict and have publicly confirmed their intention to do so.
asserted
who → find → intention
If that appeal fails, Premier League Rule W.64 does sets out a range of potential punishments for clubs found guilty of financial breaches.
asserted
W.64 → fail → breaches
These range from a fine, to a points deduction, suspension from competition and, the most serious, expulsion from the Premier League entirely.
asserted
These → range → League
But what should be the punishment for City if they are found guilty?
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they → find → City
We put that question to our Standard Sport football reporters, Dom Smith, Matt Verri and Sam Tabuteau, along with our sport reporters, Oli Gent and Arthur Ferridge, and this is what they had to say...
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they → put → what
Talk of potential punishments has felt something of a free-for-all in recent days, but it is crucial the book is thrown at Manchester City.
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book → feel → City
Unprecedented breaches of financial regulations deserve unprecedented punishment.
asserted
breaches → deserve → punishment
The Premier League is facing an integrity gap in the wake of the guilty verdict and must act strongly to punish City and regain control.
asserted
League → face → control
One option I could see sending the right message would be to force the club's owners to sell — a vote of no confidence in them as fit and proper owners of a top-flight club on these shores for the way they flagrantly broke rules, and a reminder to other powerful owners to stick to them.
But my favoured punishment would be a big enough points deduction to guarantee their relegation to the Championship, and a multi-window transfer embargo as well.
uncertain
punishment → see → Championship
If reports are true that City knew this summer they were going to be found guilty, then they surely conned players who joined them this summer, wilfully withholding that information from Enzo Fernandez, Elliot Anderson and others.
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who → know → Fernandez
That is brazenly unethical, so future spending must be curbed.
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spending → curb → ?
To start with, City should be stripped of the titles they won during the period of their financial breaches.
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they → start → breaches
A fine in the region of £900million, representative of how much their revenue was inflated, must be imposed and distributed to the Premier League clubs from those nine season.
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revenue → inflate → season
A lengthy transfer ban is also needed.
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ban → need → ?
One big points deduction is not enough and would allow City to come straight back up.
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City → allow → ?
This should guarantee at least a couple of relegations and then hurt the club’s attempts to rebuild for an appropriate length of time.
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This → guarantee → time
The independent commission's verdict is damning and while the process is still on ongoing with Man City claiming to have "irrefutable evidence" in their favour, the punishment not only for the crimes they have been found guilty of but also their non co-operation must reflect that.
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they → claim → that
This is a seismic decision, in which City have flagrantly and unashamedly flaunted the rules, bringing the Premier League and the English game into disrepute.
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City → flaunt → disrepute
The only punishment I see fit is a substantial multi-season points deduction, with all titles from the years in which they have been found guilty retrospectively deemed null and void.
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they → see → which
If ever there was a time for the book to be thrown at a club, this is it.
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this → be → club
City must feel the full force of the independent commission.
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City → feel → commission
Expulsion from the Premier League seems unlikely, so a good place to start would be a considerable points deduction.
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place → seem → League
Looking at the precedent set by Everton's six-point penalty in 2023, City should be hit for at least enough to send them down to the Championship.
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City → look → Championship
Considerable deductions in subsequent seasons should keep them there for a while, if not send them further down the pyramid.
On top of that, a hefty fine in the hundreds of millions and transfer ban of at least two seasons seems just.
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fine → keep → seasons
This scandal will scar the Premier League for years to come, and it is down to the independent commission to try and salvage some form of integrity in the top flight.
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it → scar → flight
Stripping City’s titles would be the bare minimum punishment, but the idea that they could be relegated would be detrimental for the entire English pyramid.
uncertain
they → strip → pyramid
It would skew all four tiers of the Football League, and it would require the EFL to accept them, seeing as they are a different entity to the Premier League.
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they → skew → League
The further question would be which league would they be placed in, and who would be moved up - or down - to fit them in?
I don’t see immediate relegation being a realistic outcome, but I can envisage a multi-season points deduction that would maroon them in mid-table mediocrity, and effectively bar them from European competition for a number of seasons.
A transfer ban should also be placed upon them, especially if they are found to have lied to new signings, while it should be a given for the current ownership to be forced to step aside.
asserted
ownership → place → signings
The Aporia
