Manchester City have been warned that a 'severe' punishment awaits them after being found guilty of charges brought against them by the Premier League. Former financial advisor Stefan Borson has claimed the club are in “very serious trouble” and predicts a “severe” punishment if their appeal is unsuccessful.
Guilty verdict on 114 charges
News emerged on Friday that City have been found guilty of all but one of 115 charges brought against them, with an appeal expected from the club. City now face a wait to discover the extent of the punishment handed to them, with ramifications ranging from points deductions, titles being removed, and expulsion from the Premier League.
Borson has given his verdict on what punishment could be given to City, subject to an appeal, and has predicted that “trouble” is ahead for the club.
Borson's warning on the fallout
“Anything is possible and all hell is now going to break loose, as this is going to go on for weeks and weeks and weeks,” Borson told talkSPORT. “It is going to be very hard for City to say anything or to contain the fallout from this scenario and that is without being able to see what is in this decision.
“We will almost certainly soon see the decision of the independent commission laid out in great detail, it will give people huge ammunition to attack those individuals and the club. Then we will go into the process, which will be behind closed doors, around the sanction.
“Man City have denied everything all the way through, they have gone through a process that may have cost more than £100m between the two parties and they have been found to have breached everything. They are in very, very serious trouble.”
Appeal prospects and likely outcome
Borson also talked about the chances of City being successful with an appeal, and why a “severe” punishment could follow. “An appeal on the facts is highly unlikely to succeed,” Borson said.
“Where we are now with City being found guilty of more or less everything, the decision itself will be scathing in terms of the club’s conduct, the conduct of individuals, the behaviour of individuals and the hearing itself in terms of their credibility. There won’t be any hiding place when that decision is published.
“To then have to present that to an appeal that does not have the benefit of listening to the whole case all over again, in terms of witness evidence, seeing all the documentation again, it is going to be extremely difficult for City to overturn those factual findings.
“City have hinted in the last paragraph of their statement, I think their suggestion is that the process and panel itself was in some way partial and biased and that they will in some way challenge the length of time it has taken for the decision to come out. All of those sorts of arguments, be it bias or something procedural, all of them are very unlikely to succeed. Overturning factual findings I would say is very, very unlikely. Ultimately, now I think City will have to take their punishment and it will be severe.”
