Rival fans reckon Man City could end up in League Two over serious FFP breaches – but here’s why that won’t happen
MANCHESTER CITY fans may suffer the indignity of a two-year Champions League ban.
But there is no REALISTIC threat of the Etihad outfit being booted out of the Premier League.
Like Uefa, the Prem does have financial rules.
The critical difference, though, is the thinking behind them.
Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rules are designed to prevent significant owner funding to underpin the club, although European chiefs’ reluctance to treat PSG the same way as City is a genuine reason for East Manchester anger.
By contrast, the Premier League’s “Profitability and Sustainability” tests are about ensuring there is no repeat of the situations that overtook Leeds United after their grand dreams fell apart or the financial meltdown that sent Portsmouth plunging down the football pyramid.
Prem bosses are not fussed about owner funding, although there is a demand that sponsorship deals, like the £70m deal City have with Abu Dhabi-owned Emirates Airlines, offer full market value.
For a club like City, with its high-profile manager and stars, that is an easy argument to make.
Uefa has found City guilty of disguising the true source of their income but it is unlikely in the extreme that Prem chiefs will be overly fussed. They simply do not do that.
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There are reasons, too, mainly focused on what happened way back in 1997.
Bryan Robson’s Middlesbrough were deducted three points for failing to travel for a game at Blackburn after a flu bug hit the camp.
Without losing those three points, Boro would have stayed up with Coventry relegated instead. It was felt, and widely agreed, that places in the table had to be earned and rewarded solely on the basis of results on the field of play.
Fast forward to 2006 and that was also a factor in the decision not to deduct points from West Ham over the Carlos Tevez affair.
The Hammers had not only signed Tevez and compatriot Javier Mascherano through an illegal third party deal, they then lied – bared-faced and repeatedly – to league bosses about the deals.
Even then, an independent League commission ruled that, although West Ham deserved to have points deducted, it would be wrong to do so.
They were fined £5.5m instead, staying up on the last day of the season when Tevez scored the only goal at Old Trafford while Sheffield United conspired to lose at home to Wigan.
A critical precedent had been set and it is one that holds to this day.
In addition, despite suggestions to the contrary, the other Prem clubs have NO jurisdiction over the matter.
While it is true that a two thirds majority of the 20 clubs – 14 in favour – is required for any rule change, that does not apply to such matters as eligibility and membership.
The Prem website explained that, otherwise, the clubs have no say.
BIG ‘IF’
It states: “Any serious breach of the Rule Book results in an independent three-person tribunal sitting to hear the case, ascertain guilt and set the punishment, which can range from fines to points deductions and, in extreme cases, expulsion from the competition.”
The next line is, perhaps, the one that matters: “This has never happened in the history of the Premier League.”
Any assessed punishment would have to be ratified by the League Board, currently consisting of new chief executive Richard Masters, interim chair Claudi Arney and Kevin Beeston.
Theoretically, Manchester City could be hit with any penalty if they are found guilty – a big “if” in this case.
That could, nominally, include expulsion, although that would cause a significant problem, because the Prem’s responsibility towards them would end at that point.
There would be no automatic right for City to go into any particular League and it would have to be a three-way discussion involving the Prem, EFL and FA.
Conceivably, the EFL might be able to admit them but only at the foot of the pyramid in League Two – but that is a nonsense for a host of reasons.
Yes, Rangers were demoted to the Scottish Third Division in 2012, but that was because the club, in the colloquialism, had “gone pop”. This is nothing like that.
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It is not a viable, plausible or likely scenario. Do not get misled.
City’s Uefa punishment may not be the last one they face – if, that is, their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport fails.
But do not get carried away. They are unlikely to face even a points deduction in the Prem. And they will not be booted out of it. No matter how much some might want to see that.