What punishment should Manchester City face? The options after the Premier League verdict | OneFootball

Manchester City's guilty verdict has settled one question and opened a far harder one: how should the club be punished for its Premier League rule-breaking?

An independent commissionfound City guilty of almost all the charges brought against them by the Premier League, with the verdict confirmed earlier this week.

The scale of the financial misrepresentation has stunned the game. The commission found that City used disguised owner funding to artificially inflate sponsorship revenues by around £830m, while the various schemes were found to have inflated revenues and reduced costs by more than £900m overall. City maintain their innocence and intend to appeal.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has already framed the stakes.

From a fine to the nuclear option

The commission now faces arguably the thorniest part of the process: deciding how City should be punished. Any sanction must be severe enough to act as a deterrent, while remaining proportionate to the breaches committed.

The possible outcomes range from a monetary fine, to a points deduction, to what the outlet calls the nuclear options: expelling City from the Premier League, or even forcing the club's owners to sell the club, a power the Independent Football Regulator theoretically holds. Any punishment may also have to consider the individuals responsible, not just the club.

Would relegation actually punish Manchester City enough?

A fine raises an obvious question of deterrence. Given the scale of City's resources and the breaches established by the commission, how large would a financial penalty need to be to have a meaningful punitive effect?

Everton and Nottingham Forest have both received points deductions for financial breaches in recent seasons, although neither case was directly comparable with the scale or nature of the findings against City.

A deduction big enough to make relegation unavoidable has been discussed, alongside the possibility of a transfer ban. But even relegation raises the question of how lasting the punishment would actually be.

A transfer ban looks possible, though offers the complication of stifling the movement of current squad members at the Etihad, should City refuse to sell amid a ban on registering new talent.

A sustained absence from European competition would arguably have greater long-term consequences. It could make retaining City's best players and attracting replacements considerably harder, particularly if combined with relegation. Whether such a sanction is available to the commission, however, is another question.

For now, it's all speculation. City intend to appeal and no sanction has been imposed. What is already clear is that deciding guilt may ultimately prove simpler than deciding what punishment fits breaches on this scale.