Rival Premier League clubs demand Manchester City sanctions come into force for 2027/28 season

Manchester City have been making headlines. Despite the international break, the Etihad club dominating the debate.

The fact that Manchester City have won all of their seven matches this season, including the five in the Premier League to take them top, isn't the reason for the headlines. Instead it has of course been the findings of the independent commission after they were tasked with considering an alleged 115 breaches of Premier League rules.

The Manchester City lawyers have managed to delay the verdicts for years but this international break has seen the official guilty verdicts announced for well over 100 breaches. However, The Times with the exclusive as they say rival Premier League clubs are determined to see the appeals process carried out in good time and assuming the guilty verdicts aren't overturned, sanctions to be in place in time for the 2027/28 season.

The Times reporting:'The rule breaches included artificially inflating their revenue by more than £900million over a nine-year period through "sham" sponsorship deals. Manchester City's rivals will demand that the case against the club is wrapped up before the end of the season so the sanctions come into force for the 2027-28 campaign.

One club chief told The Times it would be "unacceptable" for the case to drag on into next season and said new Premier League rules around the timescale of appeals should be enforced. ' Manchester City lodged their appeal last Thursday 1 October and Martyn Ziegler at The Times states:'Under new Premier League rules brought in for this season, the appeal process must be completed within 12 weeks, with the findings then issued within 30 days, which means the case could be closed by the end of January.

There could also be an appeal against any sanctions, but that would face similar time restrictions. However, City's lawyers could argue the new timescales should not apply as this case was already under way before the new rules were agreed.

Soriano, the club's chief executive, told fellow European club executives on Monday that the case would still run "for a long time". ' The man from The Times adding though:'Now the verdicts have been made public, however, other top-flight clubs are adamant it cannot drag on.

One leading club chief said: "The new regulations around the timescale of appeals have to apply. We have all waited far too long and it is high time that this whole thing came to an end.

The view of many of the clubs is that it would simply be unacceptable, after all this time, for it to go beyond the end of the season." The new Independent Football Regulator (IFR) now has the power to oblige an owner to sell the club if they are found guilty of serious wrongdoing.