Manchester City face in-season punishment as Premier League rivals push for swift verdict

Manchester City face the prospect of a points deduction or other sanction being imposed before the end of the current Premier League season, after being found guilty by an Independent Commission of breaking financial rules and failing to cooperate with the league’s investigation.

The club intend to appeal the verdict, and a separate hearing will determine the nature of the punishment. Under new regulations agreed in June, any appeal must be filed by Friday, 2 October and concluded no later than 12 weeks after filing — a timetable that would bring a resolution by Christmas Day, with the appeal potentially heard from 14 December. The board would then have 30 days to deliver a verdict.

The Premier League has stated it is “committed to moving swiftly through the remainder of the process, to provide certainty for the League, our clubs and fans.”

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes there is a “very high chance” the matter is resolved within the current campaign. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Maguire explained that delaying punishment into next season could open the door to legal challenges from clubs who miss out on Europe or suffer relegation.

“If it isn’t resolved we end up with a situation like that of Burnley and Everton where a club could be relegated, Manchester City are not given a deduction this season and it’s given next season instead, and the club which finishes 18th could say had the deduction been applied sooner we would not have been relegated,” Maguire said. “That adds to the complication.”

Maguire also noted that, based on precedent set by the Nottingham Forest and Everton cases, applying a sanction tends to be considerably faster than the initial evidence-gathering phase. “Once they had heard the evidence, actually applying the tariff was the quick part of the equation,” he said. “It is listening to the evidence which is the torturous period which we have had up to now.”

Even once a sanction is announced, City are expected to pursue every available legal avenue to challenge the outcome.