Manchester City are reportedly set to face a huge points deduction if their appeal against a guilty verdict is unsuccessful. An independent commission found the club guilty of 114 charges for breaching the Premier League's rules, though the scale of any sanctions is yet to be decided. City deny any wrongdoing and are appealing the verdict.
According to the Daily Mail, a points deduction that would relegate the club to the Championship and carry over to the following season is the most likely punishment, should the appeal be dismissed. Several teams across Europe have been docked points over the decades, and here is how City's potential punishment would compare to the biggest points deductions in football.
Historic Deductions in Italy and Germany
Genoa received an 18-point deduction, with a further seven-point penalty the following season. The Italian side were relegated from Serie A at the end of the 1959/60 season after being penalised for bribery. With teams then earning two points for a win, Genoa finished on zero points and received a subsequent 10-point deduction the following season, later reduced to seven.
Arminia Bielefeld faced a 19-point deduction after being caught up in a Bundesliga match-fixing scandal in 1971. Found to have manipulated several games, Bielefeld were stripped of their 19 points from the 1971/72 season by the DFB and demoted to the second tier.
Financial Penalties in England and Ukraine
Derby County fell into League One after receiving two deductions for financial issues. The Rams were docked 12 points after entering administration in September 2021, and Wayne Rooney's side received another nine-point deduction two months later for breaching profitability and sustainability rules, ultimately being relegated by seven points.
FC Dnipro, former Europa League finalists, were relegated from the Ukrainian Premier League in 2017 after a series of deductions. The club were initially docked six points over unpaid wages to manager Juande Ramos and his backroom staff, received another six-point sanction for not paying players, lost a further three points for failing to comply with disciplinary rules, and were hit by another nine-point deduction at the end of the 2016/17 season. The club later filed for bankruptcy in 2018.
