26 Sep 2026 11:50:24
A Manchester Cityless EPL will surely harm the EPL brand, so I will be surprised if the punishment relegates them. So I think instead the punishment will just hurt City sufficiently to stop them qualifying for the Champions league for the next 3 to 4 seasons unless they win the Champions league this season but assuming they don't the EPL could give them a points deduction of minus 30 points for the next 3 to 4 seasons plus a transfer embargo for each of those seasons and that way they still have a realistic opportunity to avoid relegation as long as most of their superstar players don't leave
The whole thing is a mess though and I wonder if Man. City owners may be banned and forced to sell the club or as others have said try and set up a breakaway league with no spending restrictions to rival the EPL with no Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea or Arsenal or Spurs in it.
1.) 26 Sep 2026
26 Sep 2026 12:18:35
Yet even now they saying that they have done nothing wrong. Think they should get the maximum punishment available even,be it relegation out of the football league. IF it was a team called Leeds United then they wouldn't even blink an eye.
For the sake of football's credibility and all the clubs that have suffered punishment at the hands of the football authorities over they year, sorry they have to take the punishment.
2.) 26 Sep 2026
26 Sep 2026 13:26:07
I think entertaining cheats will do the EPL far more harm Cheshire.
Wouldn't be surprised if they don't get a subsequent EUFA ban given they were already handed one a few years ago.
3.) 26 Sep 2026
26 Sep 2026 13:47:03
As 1970 alluded to below when there were so many more different winning clubs in football pre Sky and EPL, for me this very sorry mess is a massive owngoal for football and it's integrity.
Assuming Citeh lose their appeal.these Citeh UAE owners should be forced to sell up pronto.defo not fit for purpose ownership imo.
4.) 26 Sep 2026
26 Sep 2026 14:10:00
They did it with Chelsea owner right. So why not baz.
5.) 26 Sep 2026
26 Sep 2026 15:33:36
I disagree I think the sanctions will give them enough of a points deduction that they will be relegated. They can't relegated them directly because EFL is a governing body so they can only effectively relegate them with a relevant points deduction.
That doesn't mean that the EFl couldn't agree to enforce further punishment in consolidation with premier league like starting the next season with -40 or something too.
It's how Leicester tried to wrangle out of their financial failures by saying EFL didn't have jurisdiction so I think they've tightened up at least some of those regulations.
Sporting bodies rely on entertainment when the goings good and integrity when bad. Like Juventus in Calciopoli they had to be relegated and start the next season with -9pts I think (seria A/B/C all one entity so easier enforced there. Or Armstrong and the tour de France.
Once found guilty other clubs won't stand for it if it's too light. Neither will fans. The punishment will need to be proportionate. Id want to see them given a 70 point deduction (guarantees relegation) and if possible a 40 -50 PT for the first champ season making it almost impossible to finish top 8. Means effectively they'll be out of prem for three years at least.
{Ed001's Note - they can expel them from the Prem, they would then have to apply to the EFL for a place. The EFL could choose to make them start at the bottom, the Championship or even refuse their application altogether, which would be hilarious.}
6.) 26 Sep 2026
26 Sep 2026 15:35:08
Football's credibility and integrity is at stake here, but I am not holding my breath.
7.) 26 Sep 2026
26 Sep 2026 19:23:47
That's a very good Point Ed001.I also like Ealing suggestion give them a point deduction to the tune of 5000 points as a starter.
8.) 26 Sep 2026
26 Sep 2026 23:09:22
So Cheshire, you think that a Man City less EPL would harm the EPL brand. Without being too rude, I think that that's absolute bs. Do you really think that so much of that brand value comes from them, and so much less from the other 19 teams? An EPL without Man City would do just fine, their players would all find new homes, the stadium could go back to being a dedicated athletics stadium as it was originally, Sheik Mansour could go back to Qatar, and life for the rest of the football world would go on much as before.
If they are proven guilty and ejected from the EPL, all I'd say is good riddance!
9.) 27 Sep 2026
27 Sep 2026 09:02:05
Sorry Cheshire but no club as the right to be in the Premier League regardless of size or stature, we all know if this was Leeds we'd be kicked out of the League, the owners should be made to sell the club there obviously not fit and proper and they've done wrong doing for years by the sound of it.
10.) 27 Sep 2026
27 Sep 2026 11:46:46
Whilst I know what I think of their guilt or innocence, we'll have to await a final judgement before deciding their fate. If their guilt is confirmed, they should be immediately expelled from the EPL which should complete the season with 19 teams, and at the end accept 3 promotees from the Championship, but only relegate 2, all lower divisions would need to do likewise.
They would then have to apply to the EFL for admittance, but the EFL should declare their current owners as having failed the Owners and Directors test, and require a change of ownership before they could be admitted. Then and only then would the swamp have been properly cleaned.
11.) 27 Sep 2026
27 Sep 2026 13:14:13
That's the point JR; they have been found guilty. An independent panel reviewed the charges [which were made 3 years ago] and decided that the EPL's charges were correct.
Some of them are irrefutable, i. e. did or didn't Man City provide accurate and complete financial reports over 10 years. That is black and white and not subjective.
Any "appeal" I believe will be centred around the punishment rather than the level of guilt, i. e. is the punishment commensurate with the offences.
I know everyone expects this to drag on, but I am not sure, its not in the EPL's or City's interest to take a long time over this, e. g. how to City plan for an alternative revenue stream, if they are no longer in the EPL, what will be their player retention policy be if the same?
City need to know the punishment, in my opinion, as soon as possible, to even form the basis of an appeaal.
It is the EPL who raised these charges and they have been upheld, so again the EPL need to act as soon as possible, otherwise the "damage caused" to the competition only increases day be day. If City could never really have afforded and recruited the players that won them competitions, then every day, that problem continues undermining the competition.
What will be drawn out will be the ultimate ramifications, other clubs seeking damages, players seeking the same etc, but the actual punishment ruling has to happen quick.
There will be a lot of bravado and "fluff" going on in public, but I am pretty sure City and the EPL will be discussing what the outcome is going to be right now.
12.) 27 Sep 2026
27 Sep 2026 23:06:40
Not disagreeing with you Ani, you stated the case very succinctly, and as far as you and I and most of the rest of the football world is concerned they're guilty bang to rights, and deserve the maximum level of punishment available.
But, we, they and everyone else cannot finally draw a line under the affair til the appeal has been heard and it's verdict delivered. That's all I meant by "final judgement".