Manchester City's owners have been warned they could be removed if the independent commission's guilty verdict is upheld at the end of the ongoing appeal process. City were found guilty in September of all charges relating to Premier League financial rule breaks.
The Etihad club, who have appealed, were adjudged to have artificially inflated their revenue by £900million via 'sham' contracts from the 2009/10 season to 2017/18. Now, David Kogan, chair of the Independent Football Regulator, has confirmed they have the power to force a sale by the club's owner Sheikh Mansour if that was felt to be appropriate.
Regulator's stance on investigation
Speaking on a special edition of The Rest Is Football podcast with Gary Lineker and Alastair Campbell, Kogan said: "I am not going to get pushed into making any judgement on this until we've seen all of those questions being answered and then we will have to decide whether we're going to mount our own investigation and come to a conclusion on that and what we're going to do. And pre-empting that would be a colossal mistake."
Asked what role the regulator could play, Kogan explained: "We would judge against the tests of ownership and senior directors and executives. We would judge the actions of those individuals. We're not there, we can't, unlike the Premier League, who obviously can take action against the club in terms of fines or points deduction or whatever it may be."
Power to force sale
Pushed by Lineker on what the regulator can do, Kogan revealed: "We look at the individuals. We will look at the individuals who've given evidence, we will look at the individuals involved with the club and we will take a judgement call."
Asked by Campbell if the regulator has the power to force City's owners to sell, Kogan, a British media executive, said: "We have the power to ask an owner to step away from a club if we believe that they run a club in a way that is neither fit, fair or done with propriety." And if asked what happens if they were to refuse, Kogan said: "No, no, no. We've got absolute power to do so."
Kogan has also already pledged to resign if there is any political interference in any investigation the IFR may undertake into City, amid concerns it could become a diplomatic issue between the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
