A number of Premier League clubs are keen Manchester City be hit with both “retrospective sanctions” and sanctions for the future for their massive breach of financial rules, sources have told BBC Sport.
An independent commission has found City guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.
City appealed the verdict.
However, there appears to be consensus among a group of senior club executives that if City’s appeal fails, sanctions should provide reparations for the period they broke the rules, while limiting their powers going forward.
At least four Premier League boards also feel a “one-shot” points deduction resulting in relegation to the Championship would be insufficient punishment given the seriousness of City’s wrongdoing.
It is understood there are nuances to what clubs consider an appropriate sanction for the eight-time Premier League champions, who were found guilty of all serious breaches of financial rules in a damning verdict handed down by an independent commission.
A senior club source said City should be stripped of their titles, and added there was “no great rush” among clubs to push for the redistribution of trophies, but rather to strip them of honors and leave them vacant.
The source warned that the Premier League’s credibility would be lost if City were allowed to keep the eight major trophies he won during the period he was found guilty.
However, in a sign of a diversity of opinions across the league, BBC Sport had previously been informed that other clubs were reluctant to see City stripped of their titles.
As for the timetable for sanctions going forward, club bosses are concerned that a sanction applied to just one season would only be a “bump in the road” for City given the likelihood of them returning to the Premier League first time around.
A number of Premier League figures therefore believe that any points deduction should be spread over several seasons, while there is also a feeling that transfer bans which extend over a number of windows would also significantly hamper City’s ability to regain their top division status as quickly as possible.
Gn sports
