Manchester City have been found guilty of 114 charges of breaching Premier League financial regulations and of failing to co-operate with the league's investigation, prompting strong reactions from leading pundits.
The Premier League released an official statement on Tuesday night confirming the verdict reached by an independent commission, detailing the club's wrong-doings over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018.
Man City maintain their innocence and released their own statement in response, saying they were "disappointed and surprised" by the verdict, insisting they are "innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League", and confirming they will appeal against the decision. Sanctions will be decided at a further hearing, providing the commission's verdict is upheld.
Jamie Carragher on City's owners
Jamie Carragher does not see a way that City can now escape punishment and believes the club will be stained so long as the current ownership remains in charge.
He said on Sky Sports: "I just don't see how the ownership can continue after what has happened here and the way they are actually reacting to it. How can they be surprised, and that they have got irrefutable evidence? Where is it? Put it out there, surely."
"If you have irrefutable evidence of something and you are getting charged by the police, you hand it to them because you want this over with as quickly as possible. City have almost dragged this on, kicking the can down the road."
"The club are going to get punished. For me, this is all about the owners. I don't know how the owners can continue in English football."
"We talk about the fit and proper test for owners, what they have done over ten years now in the Premier League and this stain that will be there for the next ten years about 'did they win it really, was that fair?'"
"This all starts with Manchester City and it starts because they do not like the word 'no'. When the rules came in, it's in the emails: 'We can do what we want'."
"And when you see the statements in the last couple of days, the one from Sorriano last night, it actually beggars belief what you are watching and hearing here. Until they move away from the club, I don't know how this stain is ever removed from the club."
Ian Wright and Roy Keane react
Ian Wright expressed sympathy for former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, believing the toll of battling City had 'probably broken him' during his time in the Anfield dugout.
He said on ITV Sport: "It's cheating on an industrial scale. It's quite surreal seeing it written down like that. 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."
"Very messy. It's a problem for them to be going to Liverpool (in their next fixture). In their real time, Liverpool were the team chasing them down."
"Look at what Jurgen Klopp went through to break them - it probably broke him. It's so sad. It's probably going to get very litigious."
Roy Keane insisted he would throw all of his medals 'in the bin' if he were a Man City player after the club were found guilty of financial breaches.
He said on ITV Sport: "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."
"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?"
"They [City] knew it would hurt a lot of people, and they've still done it. And if I was a player with that bit of success and praise that we've given a lot of credit for - but if I was a player I'd be 100% sticking them medals in the bin."
"Oh, 100% of course, of course you would (feel let down by club bosses). It's cheating. You're hearing nonsense from ex-players saying, 'Oh well, they won on the pitch'. Because there was cheating. There was cheating going on."
"I think it's going to be very difficult for the players, for the manager. The trust, the belief in whatever's gone on at the football club, what they stand for when you've got owners who are quite happy cheating."
"It's very difficult for these players going forward to try and maintain the level of excellence that they've been [displaying]."
