Man City face ‘death penalty’

Robin Bairner

• 19 Sept 2024 14:10 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester City face the equivalent of football’s death penalty if they are found guilty in their Financial Fair Play (FFP) case.

The three-time defending Premier League champions are facing accusations that they have breached rules outlining how much a team can spend on as many as 115 occasions.

The hearing into the case started on Monday and is expected to last months as City fight to clear their name against charges they have steadfastly denied claiming they have a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence” to support their position.

READ MORE: Will Man City be relegated amidst 115 charges?

The stakes, though, are huge, with this sprawling case set to define this Premier League era.

The seriousness of Man City’s position has been outlined by Ben Rumsby of The Telegraph.

“It can be revealed that City would be at risk of being expelled from both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, and there is no certainty they would be able to continue to play in the Champions League or at the Club World Cup either,” it states.

Furthermore, The Telegraph has reported that the club’s Premier League rivals want a severe penalty handed to the Etihad outfit, believe that a “one-off points deduction would not be sufficient punishment if they are found guilty of the vast majority of offences they stand accused of committing.”

READ MORE: Erling Haaland DEMANDS to QUIT Man City amidst 115 charges

City face ‘death penalty’

If the harshest of these sanctions was to be realised as Man City were banned from playing in the Premier League and Champions League, this would be the equivalent to what is known in American collegiate sports as the ‘death penalty’.

This rule has only been implemented five times in the history of the NCAA, most recently to the Division III men’s tennis program at MacMurray College for the 2005/06 and 2006/07 seasons.

In football’s modern history, there has never been a case like Manchester City’s in which the stakes are so high, and hence it has been dubbed the ‘Trial of the Century’.