Roy Keane put Manchester City’s owners, not its players, at the centre of the frame on ITV.

The former Manchester United captain used the broadcaster’s coverage of England’s 2-0 Nations League win in Prague on Tuesday to deliver the sharpest individual verdict on the independent commission ruling that City had breached the Premier League’s financial rules across nine seasons.

“If I was a player, I’d be 100% sticking those medals in the bin. Of course you would, it’s cheating,” Keane said on air.

Owners in the firing line

Keane rejected the argument, common among former City players in the days since the verdict leaked, that the titles were still legitimately won on the pitch.

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“It’s cheating. You’re hearing nonsense from ex-players saying ‘oh well they won on the pitch’. Because there was cheating.”

He said the current squad and its coaching staff had been let down by the people above them, pointing at an ownership “quite happy cheating” and warning it would be very difficult for the players to maintain the level of excellence they had been asked to sustain.

Guilty on 114 of 115

The independent commission has found Manchester City guilty on 114 of the 115 charges the Premier League brought against the club in February 2023. The Premier League has not formally published the ruling and no sanction has yet been set.

The core financial charges cover nine seasons from 2009/10 to 2017/18, and include failure to provide accurate financial information, sham sponsorship arrangements used to inflate revenue and disguised manager and player remuneration. Three of City’s eight Premier League titles fall inside that window.

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Manchester City has said the process remains ongoing, that important elements still need to be completed and that it intends to appeal. The deadline to lodge that appeal is Friday, 2 October.

Sanctions still open

Legal analysts canvassed by Al Jazeera have put the range of possible punishments from a transfer ban at the milder end through points deductions of the kind handed to Everton and Nottingham Forest, up to expulsion from the league at the most severe. Trophies won since the 2008 Abu Dhabi takeover are reportedly under threat.

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