Manchester City sit joint top of the Premier League on 21 points after eight matches, level with Arsenal and separated only by goal difference, per the current table. The punishment being briefed in the English press would wipe all of that out.
Reports in the Daily Mail, relayed by multiple outlets, say the Premier League is pushing for a points deduction large enough to send Manchester City down to the Championship this season, with a further deduction being considered that would keep the club in the second tier for a second year. Relegation to League Two is not on the table.
The underlying case is the biggest in English football governance. An independent commission found that the club breached Premier League financial regulations between 2009 and 2018 by producing sham sponsorship arrangements, inflating revenues and understating costs by around £900m across nine seasons.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein first reported the panel’s verdict on 25 September; the Premier League confirmed it in an official statement four days later. The appeal, as Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol has reported, was lodged on 1 October, a day inside the deadline.
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Maguire: 60 to 100 points on the table
The exact figure being considered has not been published. Public analysis of what the breaches would warrant is bleak. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s “Football on Trial: The Manchester City Charges” podcast, put the range well beyond anything the Premier League has ever imposed.
“We’ll probably be looking at somewhere in the region of 60 to 100-point, which would effectively guarantee relegation out of the Premier League and into the lower tiers of football in the EFL,” Maguire told the Goal.com-cited podcast.
The precedents sit in a different universe. Everton were docked 10 points for a single-season case. Nottingham Forest four. Manchester City’s case covers nine seasons.
A January 2027 verdict is the realistic timeline
Under the procedure, the appeal must be heard and decided within 12 weeks, with the hearing itself limited to a five-day block, after which the appeal board has 30 days to publish its decision. That timetable points to a realistic resolution in late January 2027. The Premier League, according to the reporting, wants the sanction announced before that process is concluded.
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Solhekol wrote that top-flight sides do not expect Manchester City to remain in the Premier League next season if the appeal fails.
Borson: barrister diaries make this season a stretch
Not everyone is persuaded that the Premier League will get the quick resolution it wants. Former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson told Football Insider, via Football365, that the league is privately pushing to close the matter this season but the practicalities are stacked against it.
“They definitely want it sorted, done and dusted in advance of the end of season, so that any punishment can be applied this season,” Borson said.
He added that scheduling multiple hearings with the available barristers and solicitors before January was unlikely, meaning any sanction could slip into next season regardless of what the Premier League wants.
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The appeal hearing is expected before Christmas.
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