Manchester City face the threat of severe sanctions after an independent commission found them guilty of all but one of the charges against them for financial rule breaches. The club maintain their innocence and have appealed the guilty verdict.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has warned that a potential points deduction would be 'multiple double figure' points deductions, and that's before any calculations have even taken place. All eyes are now on the appeal and speculation continues as to what sanctions City might face if the guilty verdict is upheld.
Maguire's warning on sanctions
Addressing a potential points deduction, Maguire told GIVEMESPORT's Market Madness podcast: "The redacted report sets out year by year how much the sham contracts contributed to the artificial commercial revenue.
"Over the rolling three-year period, in some years we could be talking about a £350million difference. That would shatter all records for PSR compliance."
Everton and Nottingham Forest's deductions covered a single breach in a single year, an overspend of no more than £20million. Maguire questioned whether there is a ceiling on what can be deducted.
Potential financial impact
Maguire said the sanctions hearing could already have taken place. Because City are appealing and everyone has NDAs, the sanction might not be known until the appeal result. However, he said it has to be multiple double figures of points before calculations begin.
Maguire added: "I worked out that if you add up nine years of Champions League non-participation for individual clubs at an average of £50million a time, around £20million for the Europa League, plus potential claims from players who missed bonuses, the Premier League's legal fees and a fine, we're talking in excess of a billion pounds regardless of the points deduction."
Expulsion possibility and club reactions
When asked about City potentially being expelled from the Premier League, Maguire said: "I think it would be a very unusual vote.
"We did see Bury get expelled from League Two some time ago but I think that the other clubs would have to bear in mind that Manchester City would probably take legal redress and that could prove to be very expensive if they are expelled without the verdict being held and without the appeal."
Maguire noted that the weight of feeling varies from club to club. Some of the other elite clubs are very unhappy with the delay because they feel it impacts their ability to qualify for the Champions League. Some mid-tier clubs who don't see City as a threat are mainly concerned about further increasing the already sky-high legal costs incurred by the Premier League.
"So, they want a quick resolution and then they can get on with the rest of their season and focus on their own clubs."
