Manchester City were found guilty on 115 charges of financial misconduct over the decade of time between 2009 and 2018. The Premier League side had claimed over £900 million (~$1.19 billion) in fraudulent earnings over this period of time from “sham contracts, misstated commercial earnings, and significant lies on the club’s overall finances”.
Rumors of this verdict had circulated earlier last week, but the Premier League has officially disclosed its findings this week. Man City has, of course, denied any wrongdoing over this time, but it’s looking quite bleak for the current Premier League points leaders.
I would be incredibly shocked if the Premier League doesn’t make a message out of City. Everton was given an 8-point deduction for their ~£40 million financial breach, and they weren’t even that successful while they were cheating.
The real question is what type of penalty will Man City actually get, versus what they deserve?
What do they deserve? Multiple relegations, ownership forced to sell the club, asterisks next to every cup won over that stretch, and forced transfers of current players. They absolutely manipulated the financial system and turned Man City from an average Club, to one of the most prestigious in all of Europe. They absolutely benefited on the pitch and financially over this period, but it’s impossible to truly quantify how much they benefited from their financial breaches.
This has always felt like the most obvious cheating going on in sports. Rich billionaires bought the club and did everything possible to turn them into the best team in England. It’s ridiculous that it even took this long for the Premier League to look into their misconduct.
Now let’s actually look at this punishment and what will likely occur. Man City will likely receive fines and a small points deduction. The Premier League knows how valuable they are and will be unwilling to go after one of their breadwinners, and that’s a shame.
Look at what happened to the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA. The league neutered them by forcing them to forfeit their next five first-round draft picks, essentially leaving the Clippers in basketball purgatory. Unfortunately for the EPL, they can’t impose punishments similar to this without relegating City, something I just don’t believe they will be willing to do.
I’m not sure how the EPL can brush something like this under the rug, especially if other teams seek legal action against Man City as well. Hopefully the Premier League has some sort of spine and swiftly and severely punishes one of the largest cheating scandals in all of sports.
