Ian Wright has called for Manchester City to receive an "unprecedented punishment" after the Premier League revealed the full extent of the club's financial breaches. News emerged last week that City had been found guilty of all but one of the 115 charges brought against the club, with the allegations dating back to between 2009 and 2018.
The Premier League issued a statement outlining four areas explaining why City had been found guilty by an independent commission, including 'sham contracts' with some of the club's commercial partners. City, who maintain their innocence, responded to the statement from the Premier League by releasing their own official statement, expressing their "disappointment" and "surprise" at the announcement.
Wright's reaction to the verdict
Wright, who called for City to be punished after the news first emerged last week, has done so again following the announcement made by the Premier League.
"It's cheating on an industrial scale. It's quite surreal seeing it written down like that," Wright told ITV Sport. "The amount of stick I've taken off that. Unprecedented punishment is required here. It's a massive day for the Premier League. They've taken on a whole country, massive."
Keane's view and City's response
Manchester United legend Roy Keane was alongside Wright and stated why he thinks City deserve to be punished based on the independent commission's findings.
"It's very damaging for the league, the brand is huge all over the world, but for them [City] to be caught cheating, they deserve that punishment," Keane said. "It's bittersweet. You deserve to be punished, but it's not good for the league. What about the players who have been part of the problem, new players, what happens now going forward?"
City issued a statement on Tuesday evening which read: "Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today. The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case. The Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums."
The statement continued: "The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted. Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe. 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."
