The appetite for the harshest punishment in rival boardrooms is quieter than the public mood around Manchester City’s 114-charge guilty verdict suggests.
Two senior executives at different Premier League clubs told Sky Sports News correspondent Rob Dorsett they would be “staggered” and “amazed” if 15 of the 20 top-flight clubs lined up to vote the champions out of the division. Expulsion is the only sanction that needs a three-quarters shareholder majority. A points deduction, a fine or a transfer embargo can be imposed by the commission alone, without any vote.
One of the executives put the problem in cash terms.
“If Man City were expelled, that would have massive commercial consequences for everyone in the league, and ultimately it would cost the other clubs an awful lot of money.”
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The commission ruled on Monday 28 September that City had broken the league’s financial rules across nine seasons between 2009 and 2018, upholding 114 of the 115 charges brought in February 2023. The club was found guilty of sham sponsorship contracts, off-book payments and a sustained failure to cooperate with the league’s investigation. City lodged their appeal ahead of Friday’s deadline, insisting the ruling was “unsafe” and that the club is “innocent of the accusations”.
The commercial case against expulsion
The logic in rival boardrooms is less about forgiveness than about the balance sheet. If City were expelled mid-season, 19 clubs would be left to play out the fixtures, and broadcasters in the UK and overseas would be likely to seek refunds for the reduction in the number and attractiveness of the games they had paid to televise. Sponsorship and other corporate funding could also be reduced across the board.
City also carry a disproportionate share of the league’s international pull. Erling Haaland and Phil Foden, both named in the Sky report, were cited as examples of marquee players whose uncertain futures would damage the division’s commercial appeal, making the vote, in the words of a second executive, a “risk not worth taking”.
Why relegation alone would not satisfy rivals
A quiet exit is not what rivals want either. One Premier League executive told Sports Illustrated that “relegation to the Championship for one season would be insufficient” and called for “a punishment that is proportionate for years of sustained and deliberate cheating”. The fear in those boardrooms is a one-year demotion followed by a return with the same squad and the same financial power still in place.
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A heavier points deduction, which the commission can hand down without any club vote, is the sanction most of the reporting points to once the punishment phase is heard. That hearing has not been scheduled, and the appeal must be dealt with first. Under the published rules, the appeal process can run for up to 12 weeks, with a decision due 30 days after.
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