Premier League Giant Manchester City Faces Massive Penalties After Investigation Reveals Long-Term Cheating

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Domestically speaking, Manchester City is the most successful English Premier League club since the 2010s began.

The Citizens have dominated the league in recent years. They’ve won the league six times in that span after winning it just twice in their prior 130 years of existence. They also won the FA Cup twice and the League Cup six times in that span.

Despite not win the UEFA Champions League, which appears to the club’s white whale, it’s impossible to argue City’s success. But now that could all come crashing down.

The club rose to prominence after being purchased by the ruling family of Abu Dhabi. Since that point, the owners have poured gobs of money into the club. However, they’ve had to work around Financial Fair Play rules which limit how and how much a team can spend.

The amount a team can spend is based on the amount of revenue that it generates. So it would make sense that a club the size of Manchester City could spend more than most. But the Citizens’ spending has trumped the rest of the league by a massive amount since the takeover.

UEFA, European Football’s governing body, charged Manchester City with a breach of these rules in 2020. The governing body banned the club from its competitions for two years. But ultimately, the club won a court case in the Court of Arbitration for Sport and had the ruling overturned. Though most fans still didn’t believe the club was clean.

As it turns out, those fans appear have been right.

Premier League Charges Manchester City With Massive Financial Fair Play Violations

UEFA may not be able to pin down the grotesquely wealthy club. But now it appears the Premier League may just do so.

Amitai Winehouse of The Athletic reports that the Premier League has levied a number of significant charges against the club following a four-year investigation that revealed a massive cheating operation.

City are accused by the Premier League of not providing accurate financial information, “in particular with respect to its revenue (including sponsorship revenue), its related parties and its operating costs”.

The club are also accused of not fully disclosing managerial remuneration for a four-year period. These related to the 2009-10 to 2012-13 seasons, when Roberto Mancini was in charge.

They also stand accused of breaching Premier League rules on profit and sustainability in 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18.

The Premier League has additionally alleged that City did not comply with UEFA’s regulations around club licensing and financial fair play in 2013-14 and between 2014-15 and 2017-18.

Put shortly, the Premier League says that Manchester City reported revenues and losses that did not match was actually occurring.

Penalties could range anywhere from a revocation of previous trophies, to a points deduction, to even relegation from the league.

And if reports are to be believed, Manchester City cannot appeal the ruling to the CAS this time around.

It’s not looking good for the Citizens.