It is too soon for NYCFC fans to worry about Manchester City's guilty verdict | OneFootball

Last week, David Ornstein of The Athletic broke the internet when he revealed that Manchester City F.C. had been found guilty of almost all of the breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations. New York City FC's sister club, as both are owned by City Football Group, was accused of 115 charges based on breaches from the 2009-2010 season through the 2017-2018 season.

Then, after a weekend of speculation, the Premier League came out on Tuesday, confirming that the Manchester side has been found guilty on all serious charges. Per the league, the English Club "arranged ‘sham’ contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on ‘sham’ agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs."

In addition, the league stated that Manchester "misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators, was significantly in breach of both the Premier League’s and UEFA’s spending limits," and "during the Premier League’s investigation, Manchester City committed multiple breaches of its duties of co-operation and utmost good faith towards the League (three of the four alleged breaches were upheld)."

Should NYCFC worry about Manchester City's guilty verdict?

Those are serious charges that Manchester City was found guilty of. While, based on the wording of the statement, it is not all 115 charges, it is still the majority. Hence, could this impact NYCFC, and should they worry? To understand the answer, it is vital to look at what is already known.

The league claimed that the purpose was to "inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than £900 million during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules." Note that the guilty verdict and these findings were from an independent commission of the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Manchester City released a statement that included stressing their innocence: "The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case.  The Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums."

NYCFC's sister club "will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe."

As such, based on this statement, soccer fans can assume that the process is not close to being over. The appeal process could take some time, and Manchester City is stressing that they remain innocent. It raises a question as to why they believe that, especially because the team was found guilty of almost all charges. The confidence is also puzzling, even to some fans of the club.

The club claims to have evidence that supports them that is irrefutable, but then if that were the case, the judgment delivered would have gone in a different direction.

Nevertheless, it is clear that the front office and CFG will fight this until they cannot fight it any longer. And in an appeal process, there is always the possibility of certain decisions being overturned. With the case itself still ongoing due to the appeal, it will likely delay the possible sanctions that the Premier League will hand down.

That is why NYCFC fans should not worry about any impact right away. There were concerns when the investigation was first announced in 2023, but as seen, the whole process has taken quite a long time. If there is any impact, then it would be shocking if that happens before Etihad Park opens, in which CFG, who owns 80% of NYCFC, is funding it with the other minority owners.

Notably, the timing of an appeal is unknown. But until Manchester City and the Premier League go through the entire process, and until everything is 100% complete, then NYCFC fans should not think about the possible impact on their club, if there will be any.

Looking at possible sanctions, the sister club could face a reprimand, point deductions, and fines. Some rival fans are calling for titles during this period to be stripped as well, but coming from a viewpoint of an American, many are aware of the cheating scandal of the Houston Astros, in which the players actually cheated and did not have their World Series win taken away. In this case, the Manchester players did not cheat on the pitch, and there is the argument that every title was won on merit and talent.

But as one can see, most of the sanctions cannot impact NYCFC. The question, though, is whether fines, especially if they are drastic, would impact CFG's ability to fund the Major League Soccer team and other CFG sides. If that did come to be, then perhaps one of the minority owners could step in temporarily, of course, within legal means and by following MLS rules. Or, if needed, they could purchase a larger share of the team.

The problem, though, is that any impact is still unknown. In complete honesty, it is difficult to give an answer that is 100% certain. At this time, one can only wonder and examine the possibility of any domino effect from the verdict.

But until NYCFC fans know for sure, they should not worry. Manchester City is a sister club, but the side is still a different entity. Therefore, wait and see, as it is too early to worry.