The reigning English champions, Manchester City have been charged with certain financial regulation breaches by the Premier League following a 4-year investigation on February 6, 2023. The move has come as a shock for all the Premier League fans in general and Manchester City fans in particular as the side now face a possible points deduction.
The statement released by the Premier League read: “In accordance with Premier League Rule W.82.1, the Premier League confirms that it has today referred a number of alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules by Manchester City Football Club (Club) to a Commission under Premier League Rule W.3.4.”
City has allegedly failed to provide “accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position” and thus has been charged by the League and will now have to prove their innocence in front of a Commission which will be appointed by the Independent Chair of Premier League Judicial Panel.
Manchester City have been charged by the Premier League for allegedly breaking numerous financial rules between 2009 and 2018
A “range of sanctions”, including points deductions or even expulsion from the league, are possible if the charges are proved, per @martynziegler pic.twitter.com/qG8miy93ps
— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 6, 2023
The other charge leveled against City by the League is that they have broken the rules and have not submitted details regarding their managers between the 2009-10 season to 2012-13. The statement read: “requiring a member club to include full details of manager remuneration in its relevant contracts with its manager”
City had previously been banned by UEFA for two years in 2020 from European competitions due to a breach of Financial Fairplay Rules but the club was successful in overturning the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The prospect of a possible points deduction, transfer ban, and even expulsion of City from the league was met with various emotions by rival fans on Twitter who think that the club has been buying its way to winning titles ever since the club was bought by Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008.
Fans react to Manchester City’s breach of Financial Regulations?
We went to Twitter to take a look at how the fans reacted to the news:
We noticed a possible rival fan who wasn’t satisfied with City’s punishment being just a transfer ban and demanded a relegation of the current Premier League Champions to the 4th division of the English football system.
They wrote: “Transfer ban? Relegate them to the 4th division”
Transfer ban? Relegate them to the 4th division
— saurabh (@saurabh463) February 6, 2023
Another fan talked about how City have been conning the whole time as they have been showing fake sponsorship deals to cover the issue while they have one of the smallest fan bases in England. They alleged that the sponsorships City bagged were from sister companies.
They wrote: “I mean it was very obvious that one of the quietest/smallest fanbases in the U.K. was inflating their books with fake sponsorship deals (bigger than every other team in the world) from sister companies in order to operate…”
I mean it was very obvious that one of the quietest/smallest fanbases in the U.K. was inflating their books with fake sponsorship deals (bigger than every other team in the world) from sister companies in order to operate…
— Alex Philip (@alexphilip_19) February 6, 2023
Another fan seemed to be really angry with the way the money is being spent by teams like Newcastle United and Chelsea in recent times and wanted the Premier League to take strict action against City to have a financial fair play.
They wrote: “EPL can’t go about the punishment half-heartedly after what we are seeing from City, Newcastle, and now Chelsea. A message has to be sent to deter any possibility that FFP can just be ignored like it has for all these years. The spending needs to be more controlled”
EPL can’t go about the punishment half-heartedly after what we are seeing from City, Newcastle, and now Chelsea. A message has to be sent to deter any possibility that FFP can just be ignored like it has for all these years. The spending needs to be more controlled
— JS (@Josto49) February 6, 2023
It will be very interesting to see how City respond to the charges against them and what the punishment will be if they are proven guilty. Teams like Newcastle and Chelsea will also be keeping a note of the situation as both clubs have also been spending freely in the market ever since they got new owners.