The Premier League confirmed on Monday that City had been charged with over 100 breaches of financial rules between 2009 and 2018, but there has been a lot of hyperbole regarding potential punishments.
BREAKING: Man City charged by Premier Leaue with numerous breaches of financial rules following a four-year investigation.
This is unprecedented: pic.twitter.com/ZGzdX210qP— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) February 6, 2023
City are being accused of artificially inflating their income and deflating their expenditure, using money from their owner rather than revenue and spending more than they’re reporting to gain an edge on their title rivals that abided by Financial Fair Play.
These are serious charges which will garner a serious punishment if a guilty verdict is found, but the reaction hasn’t been realistic. If social media is to be believed, City could be expelled from the Premier League and rejected by the Football League.
National media outlets have pondered whether City will have their titles stripped in those nine years. And there are Premier League clubs hoping the book is thrown at them.
City are pleading their innocence and expressed surprise at the charges in their club statement, but this is serious. It’s highly unlikely they will be expelled, but they could be given a transfer embargo like Chelsea endured if found guilty.
City might risk a points deduction like Juventus endured this season, and a lofty fine may come their way too. But there won’t be a resolution for some time given the investigation took four years.
In other news, every Man City game Kyle Walker has missed through injury
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