Manchester City originated in 1880. Since September 16, 2024, UEFA (Union of European Football Association) and EPL (English Premier League) found that Manchester City had 115 financial charges from 2009 to 2018, which may lead to them being relegated from the EPL. They are facing fines up to around €2,090,000.00, equivalent to $2,259,093.13. Now, Manchester City are hoping to not face these consequences.
So, what happened to Manchester City for all of these fines to pile up? According to Sky Sports, it states, “A hearing into the Premier League’s 115 charges against Man City over alleged financial breaches began on Monday; City alleged to have broken spending rules by failing to provide accurate information across a nine-year spell, as well as subverting UEFA financial fair play rules.” There is a rule in UEFA that a club cannot spend more than what they earn, but Man City did not adhere to this rule, and many on the review board believe Man City lied about their spending.
Actions come with a price, so what punishments will Manchester City face? According to Sky Sports, “What punishments can the independent commission impose on a club? Suspend a club from playing league matches, points deductions, recommend to the board that league matches be replayed, recommend to the board that the league expels the respondent club, order compensation, cancel or refuse registration of players, conditional punishments, order the club to pay costs, and make such other order as it thinks fit.” These are a lot of punishments that Manchester City will probably face. But the EPL and UEFA must decide what punishment is fair enough for them.
What does Manchester City themselves have to say about this? Josep Guardiola Sala, most commonly known as Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, said, “I am happy it starts soon and hopefully it finishes soon for the benefit of all of us, ” he stated in a press conference ahead of their game against Ipswich on August 24. Especially for the club but for all the other Premier League clubs, like for all the people that don’t wait the sentence. I wish from deep in my heart to go to the trial, the independent panel-and I say it again, independent panel-and as soon as possible release what happened, and we will accept like always we have done. When asked if he was concerned the situation could impact the performance of City players, Guardiola said: No, we have been three or four years talking about that.” Even though there is a high chance he will lose the trial, he believes it is best to finish quickly and move on.
They might find a way to win the trial and not face all these charges. Manchester City are now thinking about what they could’ve done differently, but they can’t change the past.
