Manchester City are bracing themselves for a possible points deduction after being found guilty in 114 of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League, with the club’s punishment still to be determined.
Former Premier League Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) chief Keith Hackett believes a points deduction, alongside a heavy financial penalty, is now the most likely outcome, though he also expects City to fight the ruling.
“I do expect an appeal from Manchester City unless there has been a behind the scenes formal agreement,” Hackett told Football Insider.
“A points deduction may well be the outcome along with a substantial fine. I think that the Premier League will certainly wish to have this matter resolved.”
Man City are reportedly guilty on all but one charge
The 115 charges relate to alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules between 2009 and 2018, a period during which City won three league titles under Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini.
City have always denied wrongdoing, and an independent commission’s findings were first reported by The Athletic’s David Ornstein, who said sanctions had not yet been decided and that the club was expected to appeal.
Responding to that report, a Manchester City spokesperson said the Premier League process “remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality,” adding that the club’s position remained consistent with its original 2023 statement.
The statement noted that City felt they had “diligently respected due process for eight years” on the understanding that the Premier League board would act as an “independent, impartial and fair minded regulator.”
The hearing into the charges, held before a three-person independent commission, concluded in December 2024, but the verdict took far longer to emerge than most inside the game had anticipated.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters told reporters before the start of this season that the process was taking “longer than anyone expected,” but insisted the “one available outcome” was to let it “reach its natural conclusion.”
No punishment has yet been confirmed, and the Premier League has declined to comment publicly, citing the confidential nature of the proceedings.
Under the competition’s rules, sanctions for this scale of breach could range from a fine to a heavy points deduction, though stripping City of titles retrospectively is considered a more remote possibility.
A new era begins under a familiar cloud
The timing is awkward for a club in transition. Pep Guardiola, who led City through the period covered by the charges and won 20 trophies across a decade in charge, departed at the end of last season.
His successor, Enzo Maresca, returned to the Etihad this summer after previous spells coaching the club’s academy side and working as Guardiola’s assistant, having most recently managed Chelsea.
Maresca now finds himself steering City through pre-season and the early weeks of a new campaign while the spectre of a points penalty hangs over the club he has just agreed to lead until 2029.
