Manchester City face expulsion vote as rivals back Premier League exit after guilty verdict

Manchester City are facing the prospect of expulsion from the Premier League after being found guilty of all 115 charges of breaching the league’s financial rules, with rival clubs privately backing a vote to remove them from the top flight.

The Premier League published a damning 40-page report on Tuesday confirming that City had breached financial regulations on 115 occasions across a nine-year period spanning the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons. The club is accused of inflating its revenue and reducing costs by more than £900 million during that time.

Expelling City from the Premier League would require a special shareholder vote, with 15 clubs needing to vote in favour. According to The Independent, sentiment among rival clubs is currently running at that threshold.

The report alleged that City drew up ‘sham’ contracts with a number of commercial partners and misstated the club’s accounts. It further stated that City called witnesses who gave evidence ‘that they knew to be untrue and so had been dishonest’.

City were given until Friday to lodge an appeal and have already confirmed their intention to do so. The club, who won eight trophies during the period under scrutiny, continue to deny any wrongdoing and insist they hold a ‘comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence’ to prove their innocence.

“Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission,” the club said in a statement. “The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case.”

City added that they believe the ruling “contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe,” and said they would pursue all available appeal avenues. The club also stated it had “diligently respected due process for eight years” on the basis that the Premier League would act as an independent and impartial regulator.

The Premier League process is described as ongoing, with significant elements still to be completed. Any punishment, should City’s appeal fail, would be unprecedented in English football given the scale and duration of the alleged breaches.