Manchester City may be expelled from the premier league after the club was charged with over 100 alleged financial breach rules.
Other possible punishments include points deduction, transfer bans, spending limits and even the stripping of previous titles – although the situation is unprecedented.
The investigation into the club’s dealings has lasted for four years.
The Premier League have published their findings – and it does not make good reading for the Etihad club, although at this stage they have been charged but not found guilty.
The charges relate to breaching regulations over nine seasons between 2009 and 2018, with the investigation starting way back in December 2018.
That was prompted following the publishing of leaked documents by the German website Der Spiegel – with the investigation focusing on three specific areas.
The first alleged issue is “under-age players were pressured to sign contracts with City through monetary payments”.
Secondly, Abu Dhabi sponsors “provided only a portion of their payments to the club”, with owner Sheikh Mansour stumping up the rest, in turn overstating the sponsorship income.
Lastly, ex-boss Roberto Mancini received a “significant portion” of compensation from a “fictitious consultancy contract” when he left the club in 2013.
Uefa slapped City with a two-year ban and fined the club £25million for alleged financial fair play breaches.
However, in 2020, that was overturned and the final fine was cut to £9m by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Now the findings of the investigation and multiple alleged breaches have been referred to a commission.
It is also claimed by the Premier League that City did not comply with Uefa regulations surrounding club licensing and financial fair play in 2013-14 and between 2014-15 and 2017-18.
Another breach relates to Prem profit and sustainability rules in 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18.
The Premier League also accused City of failing to cooperate and assist with the investigation.
