Manchester City to appeal guilty verdict over 115 financial breach charges

Manchester City have been plunged into crisis after a damming verdict found the Premier League leaders guilty of widespread financial fraud across a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018.

City have announced their intent to appeal, but barring a reversal of the decision, the dominant Premier League force for more than a decade face severe sanctions.

A hefty points penalty that would lead to relegation is the most likely outcome, but there is also speculation City could be stripped of some of the many titles and trophies they have won over the past 15 years.

AFP Sport looks at the next steps and potential fallout from the case:

Sanction and appeals process

A Premier League statement on Tuesday confirmed what had leaked out in the media a few days earlier, that City had been found guilty on almost all of the 115 charges they faced.

Yet, a case that began after German outlet Der Spiegel published leaked documents from City executives in 2018, could still take a long time to reach a conclusion.

The same independent commission that found City guilty will now have to agree upon a sanction.

According to Premier League rules, that could vary from a points deduction, a fine or even expulsion from the division.

Everton and Nottingham Forest were handed points deductions in the 2023/24 season for single breaches of financial sustainability rules. On that basis, City would face likely relegation if the guilty verdict is upheld.

Whether the sanction is applied before an appeal is heard will be another bone of contention.

Other consequences

If it is, City could face relegation before overturning any guilty verdict.

On the other hand, if City, who currently sit top of the table, are not punished until after an appeal, it could cost other clubs their place in the top-flight or lucrative European qualification.

Even after the Premier League process if over, there is also the chance that City's Abu Dhabi-backed owners seek redress in England's High Court if they challenge a legal issue regarding how the arbitration process was conducted.

The club remains steadfast in denying any culpability.

In a defiant letter to City fans on Saturday, the club's chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said: "Our confidence and intent in proving the club's innocence is just as strong as when this began."