Manchester City
Manchester City financial case: timeline, allegations and potential penalties
Summary of the Premier League’s charges, hearing progress and possible sanctions against City. 2026.
Manchester City’s rise from Premier League underachievers to one of the most dominant forces in world soccer and champions of Europe has been accompanied by a long-running regulatory dispute. After a four-year inquiry, the Premier League brought formal charges in February 2023 alleging 115 breaches of its financial rules, a figure reported in some accounts as high as 134 depending on categorization.
At issue is the Premier League’s claim that the club breached Profit and Sustainability Rules by disguising owner funding as sponsorship revenue and failing to disclose certain payments to players and managers. The alleged breaches relate to activity between 2009 and 2018, a spell in which City won three Premier League titles.
A private, in-person hearing before an independent three-member commission opened on Sep. 16, 2024, and closed on Dec. 6 after nearly three months of evidence and submissions. The panel has been deliberating since and so far there has been no published outcome. The Premier League has declined to comment, while City say there is a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence” supporting their position.
Observers point to the complexity and volume of material under review and to the part-time nature of the commissioners as possible reasons for delay. The Premier League operates without a strict deadline for resolving historic cases, which allows it to pursue alleged breaches dating back to 2009. Pep Guardiola said in February 2025 that a decision could arrive within “one month,” but no ruling followed.
Premier League chief Richard Masters said at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London in February 2026, per BBC Sport: “I simply can’t comment. Having spent three years not commenting, I’m not going to start now. More broadly, any regulator wants its judicial system to be efficient and work quickly—that’s as far as I can go.”
If guilt is found, sanctions under the rules range from fines to points deductions or, in the most extreme cases, expulsion. Recent, smaller-scale examples include two- and four-point deductions for Everton and Nottingham Forest. Soccer finance expert Kieran Maguire suggested a much larger penalty could follow if the most serious allegations are proven: “The Premier League cannot relegate Manchester City to League One or League Two because that is an EFL decision,” Maguire said on The Overlap. “Therefore, it has to be a points deduction.” He added: “The numbers involved are likely to be significant. If you look at previous cases, you’d probably have to add a zero—so somewhere between a 40- and 60-point deduction would be consistent.” Once a verdict is issued, both parties have 14 days to lodge an appeal.
Manchester City
Premier League clubs weigh retrospective sanctions if City appeal fails
Rivals want tough sanctions if City lose their appeal, including title removal and points tariffs.
Premier League rivals are said to want more than a simple punishment if Manchester City’s financial rules case ends with the original verdict standing. According to a new report, some clubs are pushing for reparations covering the nine seasons in which City were found to have breached the competition’s regulations, along with tighter restrictions in future campaigns.
The final say would still rest with the original three-person panel that judged the club guilty, should the appeal process not change the outcome. The suggestion among rivals is that any response should be wide-ranging. Not every club is focused on stripping titles, but some are. In those cases, the aim would not be to hand trophies to runners-up such as Manchester United and Liverpool. Instead, the titles would be removed and left vacant. One club is said to believe the credibility of the Premier League would suffer if City were allowed to keep them.
There is also frustration around the timing of the process. One rival reportedly views it as “obtuse” if City are allowed to operate in the January transfer window while the case remains unresolved. The appeal decision is due by Jan. 23, 2027, although City could still take the matter further if they are unsuccessful.
Among the retrospective options being discussed is a points-based adjustment across the nine seasons in question. That would mean applying a kind of “tariff” to City’s league totals, effectively rewriting the final table for each campaign. Such a system could also alter prize money distributions for clubs that may have finished higher had the breaches not occurred.
The impact would not be limited to title races. Manchester United, for example, finished level on points with City in 2015-16 but missed out on Champions League qualification because of goal difference. The scale of any deduction would determine how many other clubs were affected.
Sky Sports notes that “sympathy is in short supply” and that some clubs “do not expect City to be in Premier League next season” if the appeal fails. At least four clubs believe a one-season deduction would be “insufficient punishment given the severity.”
Manchester City
Manchester City appeal sets out a clear but lengthy road ahead
Manchester City’s appeal follows a clear timeline, but the legal process still looks set to drag on.
Manchester City’s response to the guilty verdict was defiant, and the club’s public line made clear it considers the matter far from complete. After an independent panel’s decision following a lengthy investigation, City insisted: “The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted.”
The verdict established wrongdoing after more than two years of inquiry, but the legal fight is only entering another stage. City have already appealed and say they will leave no avenue unexplored in contesting what they have described as a “Premier League conspiracy theory.”
There is, however, now a defined timetable. Under updated Premier League regulations, a fresh three-person panel must hear the appeal within 12 weeks of it being lodged, with the hearing lasting five days. That schedule places the next key moment on Christmas Eve. From there, the independent body has 30 days to issue its decision, meaning the latest possible ruling would arrive before the end of January.
This is not a retrial. City can only challenge the original outcome on the basis of procedural errors or material errors of law. Their wording after the verdict hinted at the direction they may take, saying: “The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence. The club is obviously restricted in what it can say further until all future proceedings are complete.”
If the appeal fails, City can still escalate matters to an independent arbitrator, but only after a verdict has been reached. Beyond that sits the High Court option, where the club could question whether Premier League rules comply with U.K. competition law.
The likely duration of the process was underlined by sports law specialist Paul Gilroy KC, who appeared on a recent recording of Stick to Football. “I heard Jill [Scott] saying this morning, ‘It’d be great to have this finished by the end of the season.’ Good luck with that one,” he said.
“Never mind this season or the next or maybe the next five seasons.”
Liverpool
Jacquet setback raises Liverpool doubts before Manchester City meeting
Liverpool face uncertainty over Jeremy Jacquet after he missed France duty with a hamstring strain.
Liverpool’s build-up to their meeting with Manchester City has been disrupted by uncertainty over Jeremy Jacquet, after the defender missed France’s squad for Monday’s match with Belgium.
Jacquet had been expected to start again, but the national team confirmed a muscular issue days before Liverpool return to Premier League action against the current leaders on Sunday. The French federation described the problem as a “strain to his left hamstring,” while Zidane played it down as “a knock.”
The timing is awkward for Liverpool, with Andoni Iraola potentially forced to prepare for the visit without his preferred partner for Virgil van Dijk. Jacquet has started all six of Liverpool’s Premier League and Champions League matches this season, quickly establishing himself in the side.
His rise has not been entirely straightforward. The former Rennes defender has previously dealt with minor muscular problems, including a calf issue that ruled him out for two games in the middle of 2025. More significant was the shoulder injury that ended his Rennes spell early. After agreeing to join Liverpool, he needed surgery and was sidelined for four months.
Liverpool have taken care to manage his workload since then. Last month, Iraola said: “In the first games, he was feeling the change of rhythm physically. He was finishing with cramps and really tired so we had to sub him,” while after the win over Bournemouth he added: “He looked solid until the end and I think he’s finished physically also in a good place.”
For now, though, the concern is the latest setback. The limited information makes the outlook hard to judge, and a hamstring strain can vary widely in recovery time. Jacquet completed both of his international appearances over the break, which may point to a precautionary withdrawal rather than something more serious.
Van Dijk has already pointed to the defender’s promise, saying: “So far, it is good,” the wary veteran warned last month. “He is 21 years old and very promising, but it is up to him to keep working hard and staying calm. It’s a big credit to him how he started his Liverpool career, but we are in September. Hopefully there are years of his Liverpool career left.”
Liverpool will now wait on Jacquet’s condition before the next run of fixtures.
