Published : 25 Sep 2026, 10:55 PM
Updated : 25 Sep 2026, 10:55 PM
Manchester City could face a major sporting or financial penalty after reportedly being found guilty on 114 of 115 Premier League charges, but their punishment has yet to be decided.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein reports that all possibilities remain on the table and City are expected to appeal.
The Premier League has not published the independent commission’s ruling, so it is not yet known how the panel assessed the individual breaches or what sanctions it considers proportionate.
What Can the Commission Do?
Under Rule W.52 of the Premier League rules, a commission can reprimand a club or impose a fine with no specified upper limit.
It can also suspend a club from league matches, deduct points already scored or yet to be scored, or recommend that the league expel it from membership.
The commission can combine punishments and impose another penalty it considers appropriate.
There is no automatic sanction attached to a particular number of guilty findings and no published formula setting a specific points deduction for a case of this kind.
The Premier League itself says serious rule breaches can result in sanctions ranging from fines and points deductions to, in extreme cases, expulsion from the competition. No club has ever been expelled from the Premier League.
Could City Be Docked Points?
Yes. A points deduction is expressly available.
But there is no reliable basis yet for predicting its size.
Comparisons with previous Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR) cases have limited value because City’s case covers a much broader range of alleged breaches over several years.
The rules allow points to be deducted from those already “scored or to be scored”, giving the commission scope over how a deduction is applied.
The Athletic previously quoted sports regulatory lawyer James Hill as saying he would expect any deduction to apply going forward rather than be used to determine past championships retrospectively.
That is legal opinion, not a requirement under the rules.
Could City Be Relegated or Expelled?
“Relegation” is not listed as a standalone sanction.
A sufficiently large points deduction could leave City in the relegation places, but that would be the consequence of their league position rather than a direct order sending them to the Championship.
The commission can also recommend that the Premier League expel a club from membership.
That would be a separate and far more extreme step, with no Premier League precedent.
Could City Be Stripped of Past Titles?
There is no express sanction in Rule W.52 allowing a commission simply to strip a club of a Premier League title.
The rules do allow points already scored to be deducted and give the commission broad powers to combine or devise sanctions. That has prompted debate over whether retrospective action could affect historical standings.
The Athletic’s earlier analysis noted that possibility, although Hill said he would expect any points penalty to operate prospectively.
There is no Premier League precedent for removing historical titles through this process.
Claims that City will lose previous championships therefore remain speculative unless the commission says otherwise.
Could City Just Be Fined?
Yes.
The commission can impose a fine with no specified upper limit and can combine a financial penalty with sporting sanctions.
There is currently no basis for assuming either that a fine alone would be considered sufficient or that a points deduction is inevitable.
What Happens if City Appeal?
City are expected to appeal.
Premier League commission decisions can be challenged before an independent Appeal Board.
The league says the board has wide discretion and can allow or dismiss an appeal, or make any order it deems fit, including varying the commission’s order. Appeal proceedings are confidential and heard in private.
That means the first sanction announced may not be the final outcome.
What Happens Next?
For now, the most dramatic possibilities -- relegation, expulsion or the removal of past titles -- remain just that: possibilities.
Recent Premier League cases show how varied financial sanctions can be. Everton were docked a total of eight points during the 2023-24 season after two separate PSR breaches, while Nottingham Forest lost four points for a breach of the same rules.
Other cases have ended differently. Chelsea accepted fines totalling £10.75 million, an academy transfer ban and a suspended first-team transfer ban in March 2026 over historical financial and reporting breaches, while Newcastle avoided a potential PSR sanction in 2024 after raising funds through player sales before the reporting deadline.
None provides a direct template for City’s case, which is much broader in scope.
The rules allow sanctions ranging from fines and points deductions to suspension, while the commission can also recommend expulsion.
Until the commission publishes its detailed ruling, attaching a specific punishment to those findings would amount to nothing more than guesswork.
