The sanctions hearing is expected within the next few weeks, according to Times reporting carried in the Mirror and syndicated to AOL. At that hearing the Premier League will act as prosecutor and be permitted to submit its own recommended penalties to the three-person panel that ruled on the charges.
Reports on Friday said Manchester City had been found guilty on 114 of the 115 charges, covering 80 alleged financial breaches between 2009-10 and 2017-18 plus 35 further charges for failing to cooperate with the investigation. The Premier League has not officially published the ruling and continues to cite confidentiality, while the club said the “process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed.”
What the panel can impose
Available sanctions run from a financial fine to points deductions, a transfer and registration ban, the stripping of titles and expulsion from the top flight.
There is a recent benchmark. In November 2023 the Premier League recommended a 12-point penalty against Everton for a single profit and sustainability breach. The independent panel imposed 10 points, later reduced to six on appeal.
Read also: 'Mr Horner is looking for a job': Vasseur hits back as Ferrari succession reports refuse to go away
Bernstein: “more drastic than money”
Former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein told Al Jazeera the punishment would need to go beyond a fine.
“All I would say is that money is not sufficient, it would have to be something, unfortunately, more drastic than that,” Bernstein said.
He also warned against a drawn-out appeal.
“The appeal process cannot go on for year after year, I think that would be a disaster.”
Read also: Iraola waits on Gakpo scan as Belgrade tackle sours Liverpool's break
Former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness went further in an assessment reported by Football365, saying the final verdict was “likely to be very harsh” and could include “something up to 50 points, which would probably ensure relegation in some way.” Wyness said he expected any appeal to take “two or three months maximum.”
The appeal already lined up
City are expected to challenge any guilty finding. Under Premier League rules an appeal must be lodged within 14 days of the written judgment being handed down, and the case then moves to a separate three-person appeal board.
The club has held the same public line since February 2023. Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said at the time that the “Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the Club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began.”
The next concrete date is the sanctions hearing itself, which the Premier League has yet to publicly confirm.
Read also: US Olympic legend reacts to 13-year-old Yu Zidi's record-breaking Asian Games run
Read also: AEW star PAC is dead after wrestling at "All Out"
