Man City could face further charges as Premier League confronted with 'dilemma'

An increasing number of English football executives are pushing for the Premier League to investigate Manchester City for the seasons since 2018 or bring further charges, although it is a subject causing significant debate and viewed as a potential "dilemma" for the game. The Abu Dhabi -owned club were last monthfound guilty of 114 chargesof breaches of financial rules in a case already seen as oneof the most controversial in football history, although they are currently in theprocess of appeal.

Amid a temporary lull in the story as the game waits for both the sanctions and the outcome of that appeal, many directors have been pointing to key details of the independent commission's final verdict. As one source asked, "what changed overnight?" In its decision, the Independent Commission found that Manchester City and its Abu Dhabi-based sponsors were 'Related Parties'.

If the relationships did not change, then that would form the basis for more charges in subsequent seasons given the club did not report this or have the Fair Market Values of the sponsorships assessed. While even those who want scrutiny on that period have concerns about another lengthy investigation, the wait for sanctions - expected by many sources to come this month - has sharpened focus on the period after 2018.

There is at least some possibility that the independent commission recommends titles of 2012, 2014 and 2018 are stripped. While this is currently viewed as unlikely, such an outcome would immediately raise more questions about the era of success that followed 2018.

City built on Pep Guardiola 's initial 2017-18 title winning season with the most intense period of glory the Premier League has seen, winning English football's first four in a row to make it a total of six leagues in seven years alongside a first ever domestic treble and the 2022-23 treble that brought the Champions League. Executives feel that questions about this have not been adequately addressed by the Premier League, although the competition's policy and legal guidance has been to refuse to discuss the case until it is completely concluded.

There is nevertheless a sense among executives that commercial deals after 2018 will be viewed as having simply been made subject to the associated party rules, and were already assessed at fair market value. That line of thinking has been met with some scepticism, given the nature of the guilty verdict.

The counter-argument is that associated party rules would be irrelevant here, since any investigation would be about disguised funding. City are still strenuously insisting on their innocence, and remain bullish about an appeal.

Some feel agitating executives are getting ahead of themselves, and that there should just be patience for the current case to conclude. A concurrent view is that there aren't the same clear grounds for another investigation without evidence like the leaked emails, and that it might even be unnecessary if the guilty verdict is upheld and the sanctions are appropriate, given what the final verdict already says.

The latter is taken to mean meaningful sporting sanctions and focus on the hierarchy responsible. Others feel the idea of another investigation is better saved as a "negotiation tactic", especially with how abrasive City have already been in their position.