Rivals want City titles stripped and multi-season bans — SkimNews
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- Premier League clubs are pushing for both retrospective punishments and future sanctions against Manchester City after an independent commission found City guilty of all charges for financial breaches between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
- At least four Premier League boardrooms view a single points deduction causing relegation as insufficient given the scale of City's wrongdoing, sources told BBC Sport.
- One senior club source said City should be stripped of titles won during the rule-breaking period, with honours left vacant rather than redistributed to other clubs.
- Multiple club executives believe any points deduction should be split across multiple seasons, and that multi-window transfer bans would significantly hinder City's ability to regain top-flight status quickly.
- One idea mooted by clubs is a 'tariff-based system' that retroactively alters City's past league finishing positions via points deductions, with City paying compensation to rivals based on the altered standings.
- Manchester City have appealed the guilty verdict, while the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is poised to examine the findings for potential solicitor misconduct.
- Enzo Maresca will speak to Manchester City players collectively after international duty before Sunday's Premier League match at Liverpool (16:30 BST), the club's first game since the verdict, with Merseyside Police confirming an 'appropriate policing operation.'
Why it matters: If City's appeal fails, the punishment architecture rivals want — title-stripping combined with multi-season points deductions and transfer bans — would inflict historical and ongoing competitive damage exceeding a single relegation, potentially vacating eight major trophies and constraining City's squad-building across multiple transfer windows. Rival clubs frame the Premier League's credibility as hinging on sanctions severe enough to match the scale of the eight-season rule-breaking.
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