EFL chiefs say Man City should drop to the bottom of the pyramid after 114-charge verdict

Senior figures within the EFL have called for Manchester City to be sent to the bottom of the English football pyramid after an independent commission found the club guilty of 114 of the 115 financial charges brought against them by the Premier League.

The commission determined that City used ‘sham’ contracts to disguise more than £830 million in funding between 2009 and 2018. City strongly deny any wrongdoing and have launched an appeal, with an independent three-person panel expected to deliver a decision before the end of the year.

“They should go all the way to the bottom of the pyramid,” one EFL source told The i Paper. A second EFL club executive questioned the fairness of placing City in a lower division as a punitive measure: “Why should we be forced to play alongside City as their punishment? Does it make it okay for League One clubs to cheat, if they are playing against Manchester City for points? You have to earn your place in any league in English football.”

Not every EFL voice was opposed to the prospect, however. A senior EFL executive pointed to the commercial boost Leicester City’s presence in League One has already generated this season. “We are seeing what having a giant of a club like Leicester City in League One this season does for interest,” the executive said. “Imagine the demand for City tickets. The chance to go up against a giant like City would get more eyes on the league, attract investors, and get us gate receipts we wouldn’t normally see.”

The independent commission retains the power to relegate City, impose unlimited fines, hand out points deductions, or issue a transfer ban. Whether the club could also be stripped of titles won during the nine-year period under scrutiny remains an open question.

City have adopted a defiant stance internally, reassuring players and staff that they hold ‘irrefutable evidence’ they believe will overturn the verdict. A central plank of their appeal is expected to be the argument that the deals deemed ‘sham’ arrangements were in fact legitimate transactions funded directly by the Abu Dhabi government, rather than by the club’s owners at the Abu Dhabi United Group.