Manchester City face possible heavy sanctions — final decision expected in January

Manchester City face a potentially decisive blow in January after the Premier League's independent commission found the club guilty of financial misconduct and the club lodged an appeal.

Timeline points to a mid-January ruling

Journalist Martin Ziegler, who has followed the case closely, says the appeals process timeline points to a decision being published in mid-January. "We believe the appeals process will take place within 12 weeks, and when the appeal finishes you have 30 days to publish the decision. That brings us to around mid-January. So I think we'll learn the punishment shortly afterwards," he said.

Ziegler said the language used by the commission was unexpectedly severe. "Yes, exactly. Everything was much, much harsher than I expected. They used the word 'fraud' and said that certain individuals had given some false evidence. So the formulations were significantly harsher than I expected," he explained.

Despite City employing some of the country's top appeal lawyers, Ziegler warned that overturning the commission's findings may be difficult. He outlined the most severe sanctions that could follow if the main charges are upheld: hefty multi-point deductions — potentially enough to cause relegation — repeated deductions across seasons, and exclusion from European competitions.

He also commented on ownership implications if the appeal fails. "I don't think they will sell the club unless they are forced to. We now have a new independent regulator for football, and if wrongdoing is established the focus will be on what certain individuals in the club did. The regulator has the power to force owners to sell the club. I think that would be a fairly extreme step, but the question is whether the owners will want to continue investing if the appeal is not resolved in their favour," Ziegler said.

Photo: press material from the event