Schmeichel calls for Man City owners to sell as four punishments recommended amid charges saga

Peter Schmeichel has called for Manchester City’s owners to be forced to sell the club as debate over potential punishments escalates, with the former goalkeeper outlining four specific sanctions he believes should be imposed if City fail in their appeal against an independent panel’s guilty verdict on 114 alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules between 2009 and 2018.

Schmeichel, 62, told reporters he believes the club’s current ownership is unfit to run a Premier League side. “I think the ownership should be forced to sell the club,” he said. “I don’t think they’re fit to run this football club and they’re not fit to run a football club in England. Also, I think bans for everyone who has been in on this. They cannot operate in football. Take the titles away or let them keep the titles. I don’t think it matters one way or the other.”

In addition to a forced sale, Schmeichel suggested City should be docked 25 points spread across the next five seasons, subjected to a transfer ban, and hit with a financial fine — stopping short of the outright relegation that some fans and pundits have demanded.

City continue to maintain their innocence and have lodged an appeal against the panel’s findings. No punishment can be confirmed until that appeals process concludes, with a final decision not expected until early 2027.

The prolonged uncertainty has prompted a range of reactions across the game. One senior figure from an unnamed Premier League club has reportedly warned that the situation surrounding potential sanctions has become ‘farcical’ and carries the risk of turning ‘violent’, though no further details were provided on the nature of that warning.

The case centres on alleged financial rule violations spanning nearly a decade, and its outcome is widely regarded as one of the most consequential disciplinary proceedings in English football history. Until the appeals panel delivers its ruling, speculation over the scale and form of any punishment is likely to continue.