Man City players could tear up contracts if relegation follows 114 financial rule breaches

Manchester City players could pursue legal action to exit their contracts if the club is relegated following its guilty verdict on 114 counts of financial rule breaches, though legal experts say the bar for such claims would be difficult to clear.

The Premier League independent commission found City in breach of financial regulations on 114 separate occasions. The club is expected to appeal each individual charge, a process that legal analysts say could take several years before any sanctions — including a potential points deduction large enough to trigger relegation — are formally imposed.

Kavan Bakhda, a partner and head of sports at law firm Mishcon de Reya, outlined the potential player contract implications to The Sunday Times. “Relegation would not give Manchester City’s players an automatic legal right to tear up their contracts and walk away,” he said. “However, relegation could lead to thorny legal disputes between players and the club.”

Bakhda added that players would need to demonstrate a direct link between the club’s alleged conduct and their own decision to sign or remain at City. “If Manchester City were relegated because of serious wrongdoing by the club, players could in theory argue that the club’s conduct amounted to a fundamental breach entitling them to terminate their contracts. However, these would be relatively high legal thresholds for players to reach. Relegation alone would not necessarily be enough.”

Beyond player disputes, legal action from rival Premier League clubs has also been raised as a possibility once the appeals process concludes. City have consistently protested their innocence since first being charged by the Premier League in February 2023.

Club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak reiterated that position in a statement on Saturday, writing: “The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence” — before the published excerpt ends. He noted he had been part of the club for 18 years and that the process remained far from over.

With City planning to contest each charge individually, a final resolution — and any clarity on player contracts, rival club claims, or sporting sanctions — is unlikely to arrive in the near term.