October 6, 2026
There is a conviction among English Premier League clubs that Manchester City may be excluded from the ranks of first-class clubs next season, if the club fails in its appeal against the decision of an independent committee that convicted it of committing serious financial violations.
According to a Sky Sports report, competing clubs locally and in Europe believe that the expected punishment should be proportional to the extent of the violations that extended over nine seasons and exceeded 100 violations. These clubs consider that simply deducting points, which could lead to City being absent from the Premier League for only one season, does not represent a sufficient punishment compared to the long period of violations. On the other hand, the report does not hide the existence of competitive motives and sporting interests for those clubs, as City’s relegation would remove a fierce competitor for the title, open up an additional European seat, as well as reduce the competition of other clubs to stay.
For its part, Manchester City filed an official appeal, confirming its innocence of the charges against it, and noting that the ruling included “fundamental errors in law, principle, and facts,” as well as being based on “a comprehensive set of conclusive evidence” that supports its position.
The independent committee had concluded in its investigations that the club had concluded “fake” contracts with commercial partners as part of a scheme to finance the club in an undeclared manner, which led to an inflation of its revenues by about 830 million pounds sterling during the period extending between the 2009-2010 and 2017-2018 seasons.
The three-member committee is scheduled to determine the penalty based on the recommendations of the English Premier League and the arguments of Manchester City’s lawyers, independently of the Premier League clubs that do not participate in the penalty determination session that may coincide with the appeal process. Sky Sports expected that this legal dispute would extend until next year, given the possibility that both parties would resort to appealing the penalty expected to be issued, in addition to the main appeal submitted by the club.
