29 Sep 2026 00:54:03
Wonder how many more years it will be now for all the City appeals to be heard. Justice whichever it way it falls has to prevail but it hugely taints all competition until then.
As a player how must it be knowing that you are fighting to win a competition and may be denied by a team who may have cheated. You lose a competition to them only later possibly to be told actually you won it. The spontaneous joy and pleasure is taken away from you. Bad enough for us spectators but worse for the players as they only have a short window of their working lives to win something.
If a significant amount of the charges are found to be true they should throw the book at City.
They say power corrupts but so does money and in some countries corruption is viewed as a way of life. It's why I never wanted owners who might come from such societies unless their were safeguards which were really strong.
Even though there will be a sense of gloating about the noisy neighbours it must be awful for the City fans to know that all their success is meaningless if the charges are proved. I don't like them but they don't deserve that. They followed their team to the lower reaches of the leagues and were loyal.
Meantime the City owners are doubling down on their position and apparently saying this will run for ages.
I hope that the Liverpool supporters really show their displeasure and that all clubs do whenever City play. Regardless of their guilt or innocence the silence spoils the league.
One last thing if City were to be relegated and they lost their top stars especially to
teams abroad it would damage English football even more.
The one positive that might just come out of this is that somehow the teams and football authorities agree to cap the ridiculous amounts paid here and abroad as transfer fees. It's not sustenance. Makes it almost impossible for small teams to win leagues and encourages the larger clubs to act arrogantly with no consideration for the lifeblood of the game which is the football pyramid.
29 Sep 2026 09:13:08
Salford i do have a lot of empathy for the long standing city fans. They have been let down and cheated on just as badly as the other clubs on an emtional front.
I have read the any punishments can be administered before or during an appeal and them removed if an appeal is successful so they can act now which will then put a time frame on any appeal decision.
The verdict was leaked so that in itself is another legal minefield.
I really think it should be as severe as a 90 point deduction for the next 10 times they compete in the epl effectively ensuring any time they get promoted they will suffer relegation the following season. All titles removed. A ten year transfer ban on incoming players.
Pay all epl competitors during their time 30m each pay a 100m fine to the league. This will put them out of the competitve arena for 20 plus years.
The carnage that would ensue if that sort of pu ishment was administered. Fines of over 1 billion no hope for 20 plus years, players wanting out asap, and having to develop your own players - no new signings for 10 seasons.
I think they would find themselves in division 3 at best in 10 years time.
I don't expect they will be anything as severe as that or as long lasting but that would be my hope.
Can it go to a members vote to expel then from the epl either for a period or permenantly?
29 Sep 2026 09:48:17
Just expel them from the leagues and be done with it. Move on, simples.
29 Sep 2026 11:39:46
Yep agree, big points deduction soon along with transfer ingoing transfer bans, huge fine. Then City can take as long as they want to appeal.
29 Sep 2026 14:10:08
The Premier League now has a very tricky situation to navigate. Whatever sanction is ultimately imposed on City has to take into account not only the seriousness of the alleged breaches, but also the clubs that have competed against them during this period and the wider integrity of the competition.
A hefty fine alone, IMO, wouldn't be satisfactory. Given City's financial resources, I would expect that to be the outcome they would be most comfortable with if they had any say in the matter. A financial penalty can be absorbed, it doesn't necessarily address the competitive advantage that may have been gained or provide any meaningful sense of accountability.
There's also the wider issue of what happens if City are relegated or face points deductions. Any punishment inevitably has consequences for the leagues they could potentially be sent into, so the Premier League has to consider the knock on effects as well.
Personally, what I would like to see is the ownership situation addressed. If the evidence ultimately establishes deliberate rule breaking to gain a competitive advantage, then I think the owners should be removed from the club, or at the very least suspension while the final verdict and outcome are determined.
The Premier League cannot realistically have a situation where owners who are found to have deliberately broken its rules to gain an advantage over other clubs simply carry on as normal after the punishment is handed down.
Whatever the final sanction is, it needs to be about more than just putting a number on a fine. It needs to restore confidence that the same rules apply to every club, regardless of how wealthy or powerful its owners are.