Two senior executives at rival Premier League clubs have said they would be 'staggered' if 15 clubs voted to expel Manchester City from the top flight, according to reports. The executives believe expelling the club would constitute 'commercial suicide' for the league.
On Tuesday, the Premier League announced that City had been found guilty of all charges concerning breaches of its financial regulations spanning from the 2009/10 season to the 2017/18 season. These included artificially inflating revenue by over £900million through 'sham' sponsorship agreements.
City's response and possible sanctions
City have rejected any wrongdoing and plan to lodge an appeal by the end of this week. The club maintain they are 'innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League' and claim they possess 'a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence' to substantiate their position.
While City have been found guilty, the punishment is yet to be decided. Some have demanded City be relegated from the Premier League with immediate effect this season, while others believe an even more serious sporting penalty should be imposed on the eight-time Premier League champions. Further points deductions, transfer embargoes and substantial fines have also been mooted as possible sanctions.
Commercial concerns among rival clubs
According to Sky Sports, two senior executives at separate top-level Premier League clubs have stated they would be 'staggered' and 'amazed' if 15 clubs were willing to vote for City's expulsion, with such a move branded a potential 'self-inflicted commercial disaster'. Expulsion is one possible punishment the independent commission could consider, but should clubs vote against such a decision, an alternative sanction would be imposed in its place.
Talks continue between and among the boardrooms of rival Premier League clubs regarding how they would respond to any developments, with several weighing up their own legal standing in relation to a potential financial claim against City. Many competing clubs regard City as such a fundamental component of the Premier League's commercial appeal, both domestically and worldwide, that voting to remove them would result in a substantial loss of revenue each season.
'If Man City were expelled, that would have massive commercial consequences for everyone in the league, and ultimately it would cost the other clubs an awful lot of money,' one unnamed executive told Sky Sports. However, there exists a contrasting sentiment amongst certain leading clubs that City's continued presence in the Premier League would prove detrimental to the competition's reputation and credibility. Consequently, a prolonged spell outside the top division for City would be required to preserve the league's worldwide standing over time.
Gary Neville's verdict
Gary Neville believes the sole 'fair' sanction for City is for their billionaire ownership to be stripped away. He said: 'Manchester City will recover as a football club because Manchester City have been there longer than these owners, they'll be there long after them, and it's got an immense history.
'Points deductions, fines, transfer bans, removing the titles - not giving them to others, just removing the titles - it's significant punishments. The only punishment that would be fair would be have huge consequences - the biggest consequence - would be removing the owners.'
'That is the only consequence if I was Manchester City that I would be worried about. And as a fan of Manchester City, if you wanted to keep the investment that you've currently got, that would be the one I'd be most concerned about.'
