Can Man City be expelled from the Premier League?

The sheer scale of Manchester City 's rule-breaking has never been seen before and will surely never be seen again. That has created an almighty mess, an unprecedented level of anger and denial and unfortunately a lot of questions - certainly more so than answers.

Will City find any success from an appeal? Will they get off on a technicality?

How would relegation or expulsion work? Due to the nature of the charges, we do not know every answer.

All we can do is try our best to identify potential punishments and explain how they would work, mainly expulsion from the Premier League. There's even a tl;dr at the bottom, because there is a danger of us waffling or falling into eternal rabbit holes.

MORE ON MAN CITY'S CHARGES *Man City's 'irrefutable evidence' disclosed as 'sham' and Sheikh Mansour key to doomed appeal *Manchester City have just 'been singled out' - Man Utd, Barca and Milan should be sweating too *Key questions remain unanswered about the Man City Scandal - but are there one, three or seven? *Man City now face 'criminal investigation' over alleged Mancini tax bill as potential punishment revealed Potential Manchester City punishments Rule W.

64 is the Premier League rule that sets out the powers of the independent Commission when it decides what sanction to impose for a breach. So here is every punishment listed in the Premier League handbook: Reprimand the Respondent Impose upon the Respondent a fine unlimited in amount and suspend any part thereof In the case of a Respondent which is a Club: W.

suspend it from playing in League Matches or any matches in competitions which form part of the Games Programmes or Professional Development Leagues (as those terms are defined in the Youth Development Rules) for such period as it thinks fit; W. deduct points scored or to be scored in League Matches or such other matches as are referred to in Rule W.

recommend that the Board orders that a League Match or such other match as is referred to in Rule W. recommend that the League expels the Respondent from membership in accordance with the provisions of Rule B.

6; Order the Respondent to pay compensation unlimited in amount to any Person or to any Club (or club) Cancel or refuse the registration of a Player registered or attempted to be registered in contravention of these Rules Impose upon the Respondent any combination* of the foregoing or such other penalty as it shall think fit Make any such penalty conditional, including imposing the penalty unless a defined action is taken by the Respondent within a defined period of time Order the Respondent to pay such sum by way of costs as it shall think fit which may include the fees and expenses of members of the Commission; and/or Make such other order as it thinks fit A key word in there is combination* in Rule W. This means City could receive several of the listed punishments.