Independent regulator warns it can force Manchester City's owners to sell the club

England’s Independent Football Regulator has warned it could compel Manchester City’s owners to sell the club in the wake of the Premier League’s landmark financial charges ruling, with IFR chair David Kogan confirming the body holds “absolute power” to act against individuals it deems unfit to run a football club.

City were found guilty in September of 114 of the 115 financial rule-breach charges brought by the Premier League, with an independent commission determining the club had artificially inflated their revenue by £900 million through what were described as “sham” contracts across the period from the 2009/10 season to 2017/18. The club have since lodged an appeal.

Speaking on a special edition of The Rest Is Football podcast alongside Gary Lineker and Alastair Campbell, Kogan was careful not to pre-judge any future IFR inquiry but made clear the regulator’s scope extends well beyond the Premier League’s own disciplinary toolkit. “I am not going to get pushed into making any judgement on this until we’ve seen all of those questions being answered and then we will have to decide whether we’re going to mount our own investigation,” he said. “Pre-empting that would be a colossal mistake.”

Unlike the Premier League, which can impose fines, points deductions or other sanctions on clubs directly, Kogan explained that the IFR’s focus falls on the individuals in control. “We would judge against the tests of ownership and senior directors and executives. We would look at the individuals who’ve given evidence, we will look at the individuals involved with the club and we will take a judgement call.”

When pressed on whether the regulator could force City’s owners to sell, Kogan was unambiguous. “We have the power to ask an owner to step away from a club if we believe that they run a club in a way that is neither fit, fair or done with propriety,” he said, adding that refusal would not be an option: “We’ve got absolute power to do so.”

Kogan has also pledged to resign should any political interference occur in a potential IFR investigation, acknowledging concerns that proceedings could create a diplomatic tension between the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, whose sovereign wealth structures are linked to City’s ownership.

The IFR’s intervention follows public calls from former Manchester United captain Gary Neville for the Premier League to remove City’s owners entirely. Speaking on Stick to Football, Neville argued that the club itself would endure beyond its current ownership. “Manchester City will recover as a football club because Manchester City have been there longer than these owners, they’ll be there long after them, and it’s got an immense history,” he said, suggesting that points deductions and fines alone would not constitute sufficient accountability.