Manchester City could face a 100-point deduction and potential relegation, football finance expert Kieran Maguire has warned.
The club’s long-running Financial Fair Play (FFP) case will be heard starting Monday, with proceedings expected to conclude by the end of the year.
The Premier League champions are accused of breaching financial regulations over a nine-year period, starting in 2009. Speculation about potential penalties, if found guilty, ranges from heavy fines to relegation from the English top flight.
Maguire on Manchester City’s 115 charge
Speaking to talkSPORT, Maguire said,
“It can’t be a financial punishment, that would make everybody think the whole thing was a waste of time.
“If you take a look at the hearing at both Everton and Nottingham Forest, the commissions both said this is a minor breach of the rules.
“Now if the allegations against Manchester City are proven, that surely has to be a major breach of the rules, effectively that the club misrepresented the money coming into the club, the club have also been accused of disguising payments to players and managers through third-parties, effectively being paid offshore via Abu Dhabi for services provided by members of staff.
“That is also completely against the rules one would think, although it could be that it’s within the Premier League rules so we would have to be looking at a very significant points deduction.
“If all 115 charges are proven, then you would imagine the points deduction would be somewhere in the region of 60-100 points on the basis that they would want the club to suffer enough to be heading out of the division.”
