Alex MacQuoid
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Manchester City’s financial fair play saga has taken another dramatic turn, with a leading South American broadcaster claiming UEFA stands ready to impose a ban from European competition lasting up to a decade should the club’s appeal against 114 FFP charges collapse. The claim adds a continental dimension to a domestic crisis that already threatens to reshape the club’s immediate future.
Manchester City sit at the center of the most serious financial scandal English football has produced in its 34-year Premier League history. The eight-time champions were found guilty of inflating their books by an alleged £830m across a nine-year period spanning 2009 to 2018, and the punishment on the table is expected to be the harshest ever dished out domestically.
City maintain their innocence. The club has already filed an appeal against the guilty verdict, and sources close to the matter suggest the fight could escalate all the way to the High Court if necessary.
A fresh study released on Thursday placed City’s cumulative probability of relegation this season at 60%, a figure tied directly to the expected points deduction. Bookmakers reacted fast, slashing the odds on City going down as low as 7/4.
Colombian commentator Cesar Augusto Londoño, who commands over 1 million followers on X, raised the stakes further by suggesting UEFA is preparing a continental sanction that would run parallel to any domestic punishment.
“UEFA is reportedly close to announcing that, if Manchester City is found guilty following its appeal, it will be expelled from all European competitions for a period of 7 to 10 years. Under that measure, it would be unable to participate in the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League. The club was found guilty of 115 financial violations in the first instance.”
Londoño’s figure of 115 charges differs slightly from the confirmed 114, likely a typo rather than a factual error. His claims haven’t been corroborated by other outlets, but the power to impose such a ban does rest within UEFA’s jurisdiction.
City Punishment Timeline Emerges
A ban of that length would be brutal for a club that lifted the Champions League in 2023. Dropping out of the Premier League entirely over that span would render the European sanction largely academic, since City wouldn’t qualify for those competitions regardless.
Such a punishment would stand as the most severe UEFA has ever handed down to a club.
Football finance analyst Kieran Maguire believes City’s hierarchy may already know what punishment the Premier League intends to impose on the squad, with a formal announcement possibly arriving within 12 weeks, pending appeals.
“Well, for all we know, is that City could have received the punishment and everybody signed a non-disclosure agreement and they are appealing the original verdict of guilt at the same time as knowing what the punishment could be. There’s so much silence. We did see the revelations a couple of weeks ago that four clubs had been told in advance of the other clubs in the Premier League the verdict. So, the degree of secrecy that’s taking place here, it could very well be significant.”
Maguire pointed to precedent involving Chelsea, who faced a suspended points deduction for their own financial issues, appealed successfully, and kept the outcome largely under wraps.
“Chelsea were given a potential suspended points deduction for their financial issues, and they appealed that, and they were successful, and we didn’t know anything about that.”
Reaction From Across the Football World
Steven Gerrard has weighed in on the saga, addressing how he’d respond if the Premier League decided to retroactively hand him and his former Liverpool teammates title-winning medals from the 2014 season.
PSG manager Luis Enrique also offered a pointed response to the guilty verdict, delivering a message City supporters will take note of.
Stay with TipsGG for continuing coverage as the FFP case, the appeal process, and any potential UEFA action develop.
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