Man City’s financial rule-breaking could hand Leeds United lifeline as ‘relegation’ claim made

Manchester City find themselves in hot water with the Premier League over alleged financial breaches.

The reigning Premier League champions have been charged by the Premier League over numerous alleged breaches of financial rules that require provision “in utmost good faith” of “accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position”. The Premier League have said that the accurate information required relates to “revenue (including sponsorship revenue), its related parties and its operating costs”.

Another set of breaches involves rules “requiring a member club to include full details of manager remuneration in its relevant contracts with its manager” in relation to seasons between and including 2009/10 and 2012/13, when Roberto Mancini was in charge and the club lifted its first Premier League title.

There are also charges relating to player payments between 2010/11 and 2015/16, as well as the requirement for clubs to abide by Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules between 2013/14 and 2017/18. Charges also relate to the requirement to abide by the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules in seasons between and including 2015/16 to 2017/18.

Beyond all that, there is a charge over the requirement for clubs to co-operate with the Premier League in its investigation from 2018 to date. Said investigation was opened in March of 2019, and the league has referred the alleged offenses to an independent commission.

In the meantime, there is plenty of speculation over possible punishments, and they range from a points deduction to relegation from the top tier. As far as Leeds United are concerned, a points deduction is unlikely to have any impact on their survival bid, given City are already 27 points ahead.

But should City be forced down to the second tier, that would mean only two other clubs are relegated this season, potentially handing Leeds a huge survival boost in their battle against the drop. Interestingly, a former financial advisor to Man City has tweeted to say: “Alarmist or not, the sheer extent of the PL charges are at a level that IF found proven, must lead to relegation.”

Such severe punishments are not all that common at the top level of European football, but Juventus were relegated in 2006 as punishment for false accounting and financial irregularities. The Old Lady have also received a points deduction this season for similar offences, albeit to a lesser degree than those that arose prior to the 2006 punishment.

The timespan of any legal action and possible appeal will also be a big factor here, especially given we are already halfway through the current season. But in any case, Leeds - and indeed their Premier League rivals - will be keeping an eye on how this all unfolds.