City are awaiting the outcome of the Premier League charges they face.
A panel of specialists was asked to comment on a variety of issues surrounding Manchester City’s 115 charges case, including whether the club will be stripped of any Premier League titles.
In February 2023, the Premier League charged Manchester City with violating financial fair play rules for a nine-year period beginning in 2009 and ending in 2018.
The Premier League claims City failed to give proper financial information, while the club denies any wrongdoing and claims they have a “irrefutable body of evidence” to show their innocence.
A secret hearing was held in December, but no conclusion has yet been reached, with predictions that the period between the hearing and the ruling might take months due to the enormous volume of information involved.
Earlier this year, Sky News correspondent Rob Harris spoke with some of the world’s leading football financial specialists about what they believe would happen in the case.
One of the questions raised at the Business of Football meeting in February was whether City’s Premier League championships may be revoked.
Matt Hughes, previously of the Times, said there appears to be “no appetite to take retrospective punishment,” while Simon Leaf, Head of Sport and Commercial & Technology Lawyer at Mishcon de Reya, said it was too early to say.
“I suspect there will be certain clubs looking at this and saying, actually we would have been entitled to payments for qualifying for Champions League… or even bonuses from sponsors from finishing in a different position,” according to him.
Martin Lipton, an experienced journalist, said he would be “very surprised” if City were stripped of their titles, as it would potentially undermine Premier League history.
“If you were to strip titles, the single most iconic moment in the history of the Premier League – Sergio Aguero’s 94th minute goal against QPR to win the league – didn’t happen,” he tweeted. “You can’t rewrite history to that extent.”
Lipton went on to say that title stripping is “not going to happen”.
Back in October, Jose Mourinho discussed the possibility of adding another Premier League championship to his resume, reminding everyone that his Manchester United team finished second to City in the 2017/18 season.
In a news conference, Mourinho stated: “I believe we still have a chance to win that league because maybe they punish Man City with points, and maybe we win that league. Then they have to pay me the bonus and award me the medal.”
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