Man City FFP: ’60-point deduction’ deemed ‘logical’ as ‘board has to go’ with guilty verdict, PL win | OneFootball

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has provided an update on Manchester City’s FFP case against the Premier League, with a “resolution” expected soon.

The Premier League referred Man City to an independent commission following a four-year probe into the club’s alleged conduct, with the charges coming to light at the start of 2023.

This situation has dragged on for far too long, but the case appears incredibly complicated, and very little has been said about the hearing that concluded at the end of 2024.

If Pep Guardiola‘s side are found guilty, their potential punishments include a huge fine, a transfer ban or points deduction, but they have remained fully confident of their innocence throughout this process.

Earlier this month, it was claimed that a ‘likely’ punishment for Man City ‘translates to relegation’, with Maguire claiming that there should be a “resolution” in the coming months.

“It should be resolved in the next few months,” Maguire said on The Overlap Fan Debate.

“But we said this before, you know, Pep was saying last February that he was expecting something. There’s an awful lot of evidence to go through and this and the charges are very, very serious. So you’ve got to have enough evidence.”

He added: “We have got well over 115 charges so what happens if it is 70-50 in terms of favour to the Premier League or favour of Manchester City?

“If Manchester City are found guilty of non-cooperation, which is fairly likely, they are likely to get a significant fine because that is what we saw happen with UEFA and the deductions there. If it’s a points deduction, I think the Premier League will claim it as a victory.”

Maguire has also explained that Man City could end up with a “60-point deduction” and revealed what it would take to make their board step down.

“The Premier League cannot relegate Manchester City to League One or League Two because that is an EFL decision and Manchester City have not had any charges proven against them by the EFL. Therefore, it has to be a points deduction,” Maguire went on to say.

“If we take a look at precedence, we have had Everton and Nottingham Forest with six and four-point deductions for a single offence covering a three-year period. The accusations against Manchester City cover a nine-year period, so it is far bigger.

“The numbers involved we are not certain about but they are likely to be quite significant. I think you have to add a zero to what we’ve seen in terms of Forest and Everton, so somewhere between a 40 and 60-point deduction would be, on merit to be consistent with what we’ve seen with other decisions, would make a lot of logic.

“If they want to go further then we don’t know the severity. In the case of both Forest and Everton, they were to do with FFP purely. The accusations against Manchester City have already been hinted at, which is why it is taking so long.

“Corporate fraud is a very serious accusation. The board of directors would have to go. How can you be in a meeting room with other members of the Premier League, with the Premier League itself – of whom you are a shareholder – with this accusation being proven?

“If you take a look at what happened with Juventus in Serie A, the board had to resign when they were claiming things about player wages which were proven to be untrue.

“There is an honesty issue here that would mean if Manchester City are found guilty – City are massively confident, as are the Premier League – then the board has to go and that could be a complete restructure of the club.”