Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal are engaged in a three-way race for the Premier League title.
And although City’s ultimate goal is to succeed in May, the champions are plagued by the shadow of their 115 FFP accusations.
This season, Nottingham Forest became the second side to face charges related to breaking profit and sustainability rules.
Forest were handed a four-point deduction which has moved them into the bottom three of the Premier League standings.
Everton have also received punishment for their charges. But Man City are no closer to finding out what will happen to them.
Man City could be in trouble for financial breaches
The Premier League claims that City, who were accused in February 2023, violated the regulations during nine seasons, from 2009 to 2018, when they were the league champions three times. Man City have denied all allegations.
Due to the stark differences in their circumstances, Man City are handled differently than teams like Everton and Nottingham Forest.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News:
“They are very different charges. If any club, whether they are the current champions or otherwise, had been found in breach of the spending rules for year ’23, they would be in exactly the same position as Everton or Nottingham Forest.
“The volume and character of the charges laid before Man City, which I cannot talk about at all, are being heard in a completely different environment. There is a date set for that proceeding.”
The punishments Man City could get
Unlike Forest and Everton, City’s charges aren’t regarded as standard by the Premier League, thus there isn’t a predetermined amount of time during which they will be penalised.
Although there has been no official confirmation, there were rumours last year that a hearing was scheduled for the fall of 2024.
For their violations, City can face a range of penalties, including fines, possible relegation, and the loss of any titles they may have won during that time.
I don’t think this is the route to take . The FA allow these owners to take over the clubs , some with very dubious characters.The charges are for financial reasons not how the team has played. This could have retaliatory results . With teams leaving the English league & the FA. With maybe a different authority taking over ( euro league) . Teams are becoming fed up of the FA bullying them .
We want a league that is fair yes we do. But without these big clubs that makes the League inferior.