Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Manchester City, the dominant football team in England over the past 15 years, could be relegated from the Premier League if found guilty of breaching the league’s financial rules.
That’s according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire, who’s told Tortoise he thinks if City loses its legal case against the Premier League it would suffer a points deduction of around “60 to 100 points”.
A punishment at the bottom end of that range would leave City on minus 16 points with 13 games to go.
The club faces more than 100 charges of breaking Premier League financial rules between 2009 and 2018, during which time it won three league titles.
Manchester City strongly denies wrongdoing and says it has “irrefutable evidence” in support of its position.
A verdict is expected in the next few weeks, with betting markets already pricing in a possible City loss. Despite being fourth in the Premier League, the club is fifth favourite to be relegated.
Further listening: Football on Trial: The Manchester City Charges, a Tortoise Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.
