Why Manchester City are facing 130 financial charges instead of 115 and what penalties they could face when the Premier League hearing begins

The 'Trial of the Century' between Manchester City and the Premier League over alleged financial breaches by the Citizens is now underway.

Reports on this case have suggested that The Premier League champions face 115 charges related to violating Financial Fair Play, providing inaccurate information and failing to cooperate with the highest level.

However, Pep GuardiolaThe defendants are actually facing 130 charges, not 115 as previously thought.

The hearing on those Alleged violations It began on Monday, September 16, and the process is expected to last ten weeks.

Once that is done, the three-person panel overseeing the hearing will draft a verdict that will likely run to hundreds of pages and is expected to be released in March 2025.

From there, either party could appeal, which would trigger a new hearing.

So, this could still take some time to play out, but if the Citizens are found guilty of any or all of the charges, the punishments could change the face of the Premier League for a long time to come.

Why are Manchester City facing 130 charges and not 115?

When the Premier League announced that they were going to charge Manchester CityThey published 115 violations.

Most of these issues relate to the club's failure to provide accurate financial information between 2008 and 2018.

Some believe City are underreporting player and manager remuneration between 2009 and 2018.

And the rest is about the club breaching Premier League and UEFA Financial Fair Play rules and failing to cooperate with top-flight investigations.

However, when the Premier League made the charges public, they got some calculations wrong in relation to specific seasons.

So, these are not new crimes, but one could say that they have already been forgotten.

They have now been placed in the correct categories, although they have not yet been made public.

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What sanctions could Manchester City face?

If the three-person panel finds City guilty of any or all of the charges, the club will face a wide range of possible outcomes because the Independent Commission that imposes punishments has the power to do as it sees fit.

Here we analyze the most likely outcomes.

Economic sanction

City have already been sanctioned in this way by UEFA after the club was found guilty of breaching its Financial Fair Play regulations.

City were initially banned from competing with the rest of Europe's elite for two years, but an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that ban revoked and reduced to a fine of ten million euros because many of the offences had expired by the statute of limitations.

However, there is no time limit on the Premier League's investigation, so a potentially unlimited fine is possible.

Point deduction

Given Nottingham Forest and Everton If any Premier League players have had points docked in the last year for one or two offences, a massive deduction could be in store for City.

Financial expert Kieran Maguire says if the Citizens are found guilty of a significant number of charges, they could face a three-figure points deduction.

Speaking to talkSPORTHe said: “The club has also been accused of disguising payments to players and directors, effectively being paid by third parties overseas, being paid by Abu Dhabi for services provided by members of staff and that is also completely against the rules, one would think as well, although it could be that it is within the rules of the Premier League.

“Therefore, we would have to consider a very significant points deduction. If all 115 charges are proven, then you would have to imagine the points deduction would be between 60 and 100 points, on the basis that they would want the club to have suffered enough to exit the division.”

This, of course, would almost certainly relegate City from the Premier League.

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Loss of titles

If City are found guilty and have points deducted, it is possible that the punishment could be spread over several past seasons.

This could certainly cause them to lose titles they have won. Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United if the Premier League decides that retroactive punishment is necessary.

This is seen as one of the more extreme outcomes, but football finance expert Dan Plumley believes nothing is off the table regarding possible punishment for City.

Talking with be IN SPORTSHe said: “In terms of possibility, the answer is yes. I think there is the possibility of all those things. But all those things were on the table before the Everton verdict as well.

“That's what's within the Premier League's governance framework, that's their remit. They apply the sanctions and the sanctions range from financial sanctions, in terms of fines, to sporting sanctions in terms of deductions, or relegation, or stripping of titles.

“That's all within the scope of what the Premier League can do. We're looking at benchmarks and precedents. I don't think anything is completely off the table.”

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Expulsion

The most extreme punishment for City would be to be expelled from the Premier League.

In this scenario, it would not be a points deduction, it would simply mean that the Citizens would no longer be a top division team.

But this would not mean that they would automatically join the Championship.

Second division members would have to vote on whether or not to allow the club to compete in the Championship.

If they said no, League One and League Two teams would be asked to do the same.

If those three leagues reject City, the Citizens would be forced to move into the non-professional league pyramid.

Of course, this may seem unlikely, but sports lawyers sincerely believe it is a possibility if Manchester City are found guilty of the most serious infringements.

Talking with The athleticAn anonymous lawyer said: “Expulsion from the Premier League would not be hyperbole. It would be a realistic outcome if they were found guilty of the charges.”

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