Manchester United cross-city rivals Manchester City were rocked by the Premier League announcing on Monday morning that a formal investigation had been launched against them over alleged breaching of Premier League rules.
In the statement published by the Premier League, it was revealed that City were being investigated for breaching financial rules for nine consecutive seasons between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 campaigns.
The latest inquiry into City’s records comes roughly three years after they were suspended from playing in the UEFA Champions League before that ruling was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
This development is, however, believed to be far more serious and any sanctions imposed on the champions would not be able to be appealed at the CAS.
In total, Pep Guardiola’s men have been charged with over 100 violations over the nine seasons and possible sanctions range between partial closure of their stadium and sizeable point deductions.
Possible deductions and even stripping of honours have led to supporters wondering if titles could be awarded to other teams in retrospect, with United among the teams to have finished second in title-winning campaigns for City.
In that nine-year period, United finished second to City on two occasions – the 2011/12 season and the 2017/18 season. If City were stripped of their league titles and the Premier League decided to adopt Serie A’s ruling, which handed Inter Milan the league title in 2006 (via CNN), United would be crowned champions of the 2011/12 and 2017/18 seasons.
There are other financial implications in campaigns in which United did not finish in the top four and thus miss out on Champions League revenue.
The Reds finished fifth in the Premier League in the 2015/16 season, missing out on a place at Europe’s fine dining table on goal difference. That led to the loss of income for United and if City are deemed to have gained an unfair advantage due to breaching the rules, United could take action.
As things stand, the situation remains unclear and any possible sanctions are still subject to the investigation being completed and a verdict on punishment being reached.
Absolutely rubbish fa again money money money sertain clubs again getting preferential treatment it’s just jealousy most clubs past and present have spent heaverly utd Liverpool Blackburn Chelsea to name a few it’s ridiculous end of
Spend heavily is a norm…. hidden spending… undisclosed spending that is what they are being after…. With Arab owners…the only thing they have is money….
Your vocabulary proves you don’t have a clue, go wank and cry
Would Liverpool benefit more than MU by coming 2nd to MC three times in that time period?
We’re trying to go forward, going backwards is never a thing.
Hahaha Hahaha
Love it
Let FA laws take effect. City have tried to match United’s muscles unlawfully. You compete with an elephant when it comes to th call of nature. You gonna bust your a**
Well ,I don’t think this will come it effects even though am a die heart MANUTD FAN , Let’s and see what happens next,we optimistic that The Football Association will come up with a Judgidiously .