Manchester City, trial for violation of Financial Fair Play: risk of relegation to Serie B or…
Manchester City on the eve of two important events: the Champions League season restarts on Wednesday 18 September where the team coached by Pep Guardiola wants to regain the title after the elimination in the semi-final against Real Madrid last season. The first will be against Inter in a remake of the Istanbul 2023 final (which the English won 1-0 over Lautaro and company).
But Monday 16 September 2024 is the most important and delicate date; the trial against the English club for violations of Financial Fair Play begins. The Premier League accuses the Citizens, of Sheikh Mansur bin Zayd Al Nahyan, of systematic and repeated violations. There are 115 charges – from 2009 to 2018 – on alleged violations of the rules imposed by UEFA. Manchester City would not have provided accurate information regarding the operations carried out. The English champion club was also accused of not having cooperated with the investigation and of not having delivered the requested documents for five seasons from 2018/19 to 2022/23. Investigation started in 2018 after the publication of the Football Leaks documents by the German newspaper Der Spiegel.
The trial, according to English media, is expected to last about two and a half months with a verdict in early 2025. Last year, the Premier League penalised Everton eight points and Nottingham Forest four for breaches of Financial Fair Play. The biggest penalty in English football history was handed out to Luton Town in the 2008/09 season: 30 points for irregular player transfers.
In theory, if the most serious allegations were to be proven, Manchester City would risk relegation. In recent weeks, The Athletic asked a Premier League club official to comment: “The collective view I have heard is that an appropriate sanction would be a points deduction so substantial, 70-80 points, that it would guarantee City a Championship season.” The tabloids have also speculated on a shock penalty of 500 million euros.
The English company has always denied any wrongdoing and has made it known that it has evidence that will exonerate it.
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