The time of judgment has come for Manchester City. Accused of having circumvented the financial rules in England between 2009 and 2018, the club coached by Pep Guardiola faces 115 charges and risks even administrative relegation. The trial began last Monday and is being held in an unknown location. The verdict is however not expected until 2025, but already, the English media are announcing possible historic sanctions.
Having won six of the last seven years as English champions, City is risking a lot. Because the other Premier League clubs are not going to be satisfied with a simple points deduction. To be clear, the British press speaks more often of an exclusion from the Premier League than a simple reprimand. Such a sanction would already be enormous for the English champions. But the Telegraph tells us that City could be punished more severely.
City banned from all competitions?
Indeed, it is not excluded that the team that won the European championship in 2023 will also be banned from the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup (the English League Cup)! To support its claims, the English media specifies that article 31 of the FA Cup regulations stipulates for example: ” where a club has been admitted to participate in the competition, but is subsequently withdrawn from the league in which it plays (or its league matches are suspended), the Professional Game Board (PGB) may withdraw the club from the competition.»
Finally, the newspaper explains that an exclusion from the Champions League and the next Club World Cup remains a possibility, especially if Manchester City is indeed excluded from the Premier League. Faced with this impressive range of sanctions, the English champions can tremble, even if Pep Guardiola prefers to play it casual. I am glad that it starts on Monday. I know that there will be other rumors, new specialists regarding sanctions. We will see. (…) We know what people hope. I know what they wish, given what I have been reading for many years. » To be continued.
