Manchester City could face further financial charges for the seasons from 2018 onwards.
In September, Man City were found guilty of all charges related to breaches of the Premier League's financial rules between 2009/10 and 2017/18 by an independent commission, with Richard Masters, Chief Executive of the Premier League, claiming in a statement from the league that “this disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history”.
Although the six-time Premier League champions have since appealed and are waiting to hear the verdict, there could yet be more drama, as The Independent have revealed that English football executives are pushing for further investigation.
Manchester City could face another investigation
As explained by journalist Miguel Delaney, City are currently unlikely to be stripped of their titles.
The club have been charged with inflating sponsorship figures by almost a billion pounds over a nine-year period in which they lifted three Premier League trophies – in 2012, 2014 and 2018.
The initial investigation began after a “tranche of emails” were published by Der Spiegel in November 2018, but now one source, Delaney claims, is asking, “what changed overnight?”, suggesting that City's rule-breaking continued from 2018 onwards.
“There is nevertheless a sense among executives that commercial deals after 2018 will be viewed as having simply been made subject to the associated party rules, and were already assessed at fair market value,” the report states.
“That line of thinking has been met with some scepticism, given the nature of the guilty verdict.”
City maintain their innocence over the matter, with the suggestion from some that the club could take the matter to the High Court if the guilty verdict is still upheld after their appeal – meaning that the saga could well continue beyond the end of the season.
As one of Delaney's sources states, though, “when you’re seeking to agree on a potentially severe punishment, the Premier League can be shown to have given them a concession and spare them further”, suggesting that a second investigation could simply be held as a “negotiation tactic”.
City travel to Nottingham Forest this weekend as Premier League action continues.
