Man City expulsion explained: Can it happen? Will it happen? And what next if so?

· Football365

Could Man City be expelled from the Premier League? We explain the rules, potential punishments and what happens if they are kicked out.

The sheer scale of Manchester City’s rule-breaking has never been seen before and will surely never be seen again.

That has created an almighty mess, an unprecedented level of anger and denial and unfortunately a lot of questions – certainly more so than answers.

Will City find any success from an appeal? Will they get off on a technicality? Were their owners ever fit and proper? How would relegation or expulsion work?

Due to the nature of the charges, we do not know every answer.

All we can do is try our best to identify potential punishments and explain how they would work, mainly expulsion from the Premier League.

There’s even a tl;dr at the bottom, because there is a danger of us waffling or falling into eternal rabbit holes.

Potential Manchester City punishments

Rule W.64 is the Premier League rule that sets out the powers of the independent Commission when it decides what sanction to impose for a breach.

So here is every punishment listed in the Premier League handbook:

- Reprimand the Respondent - Impose upon the Respondent a fine unlimited in amount and suspend any part thereof - In the case of a Respondent which is a Club: - W.64.4.1. suspend it from playing in League Matches or any matches in competitions which form part of the Games Programmes or Professional Development Leagues (as those terms are defined in the Youth Development Rules) for such period as it thinks fit; - W.64.4.2. deduct points scored or to be scored in League Matches or such other matches as are referred to in Rule W.64.4.1; - W.64.4.3. recommend that the Board orders that a League Match or such other match as is referred to in Rule W.64.4.1 be replayed; and/or - W.64.4.4. recommend that the League expels the Respondent from membership in accordance with the provisions of Rule B.6; - Order the Respondent to pay compensation unlimited in amount to any Person or to any Club (or club) - Cancel or refuse the registration of a Player registered or attempted to be registered in contravention of these Rules - Impose upon the Respondent any combination of the foregoing or such other penalty as it shall think fit - Make any such penalty conditional, including imposing the penalty unless a defined action is taken by the Respondent within a defined period of time - Order the Respondent to pay such sum by way of costs as it shall think fit which may include the fees and expenses of members of the Commission; and/or - Make such other order as it thinks fit

A key word in there is combination in Rule W.64.7. This means City could receive several of the listed punishments.

Theoretically, City could receive a points deduction, fine, player-registration restrictions, suspension from playing, an expulsion recommendation, and have to pay compensation. The Premier League says the Commission has broad discretion over sanctions and that the list in the rules is non-exhaustive. Long story short: the Commission has considerable flexibility when it comes to punishing City.

A transfer ban isn’t explicitly listed as “a transfer ban”.

The rules instead allow the Commission to cancel or refuse player registrations. That’s why you’ll see transfer bans mentioned as a possible sanction in coverage, but it’s more precise to say that the registration power could be used to achieve something similar.

Stripping trophies isn’t explicitly listed either.

There is no line in W.64 saying “the Commission may strip titles”. However, the extremely broad “such other order as it thinks fit” provision is why it is being suggested. It is not an expressly listed sanction. But it is a fun time-wasting exercise.

Meanwhile, expulsion doesn’t automatically mean relegation.

The rule says the Commission can recommend that the League expel a club. What happens to City and the league structure after that becomes a separate question. That’s the rabbit hole of all rabbit holes.

So, stripping the club of their titles, for example, is not listed, but the broad catch-all provisions are why it cannot simply be ruled out from the wording of the handbook.

Among other potential punishments, most predict a fine and clubs across the country seeking compensation; but the biggest question is: What happens if Manchester City are expelled or relegated from the Premier League?

What is the difference between relegation and expulsion?

Expulsion will create an almighty mess. Relegation, not so much, because it’s something that happens to three Premier League clubs every season.

If City receive a points deduction that leaves them in the bottom three, it’s straightforward: they are relegated to the Championship, just like any other club.

Expulsion is different. It boots City out of Premier League membership rather than simply sending them down through the normal promotion and relegation system.

To dumb it down: relegating City would work the same as with any other team finishing 18th, 19th or 20th, but would happen because of a points deduction. Expulsion boots them out of the competition.

What happens to the Premier League if City are expelled?

Rule C.15 says that if a club ceases to be a member of the Premier League during the season, its results are expunged from the league table and the number of relegation places is reduced so that the league remains at 20 clubs, or as close to 20 as possible.

That is actually pretty straightforward. Where City go… not so much.

If they are expelled this season, the likely mechanics would be: expelled > remove City’s results from the table > 19 clubs remain > only two clubs are relegated > three Championship clubs are still promoted.

The EFL regulations actually account for a Premier League club losing its membership under Rule C.15. The Championship relegation places can be reduced to restore the division to 24 clubs, with three clubs still gaining promotion to the top flight. The same principle applies to League One, creating a potential domino effect depending on what happens to City’s status.

Where will Manchester City be expelled to?

Ah, the big one. We don’t know. And it’s no amateur hour over here; remember, no Premier League club has ever been expelled from the competition under this disciplinary mechanism.

Expulsion does not automatically mean relegation to the Championship.

The Premier League can expel City, but the Championship is governed by the English Football League (EFL). The EFL’s normal promotion and relegation rules are designed for clubs moving between the Premier League and Championship, but an expelled club isn’t the same thing as a relegated club.

Here are three possible scenarios:

Scenario A – Points deduction

> City finish in the Premier League’s bottom three, meaning relegation to the Championship and the normal promotion/relegation structure continues. Whether or not City have a points deduction that extends into future seasons is by the by.

Scenario B – Expelled during the season

> Man City go poof. They disappear, two clubs are relegated, three Championship clubs go up, but City’s destination becomes a separate, much bigger question.

Scenario C – Expelled after the season

> The Premier League could finish normally, with City subsequently losing their membership. Like being on death row. But a death row in which you are forced to play football matches. It’s like an infinite points deduction, isn’t it? You’d want to be put out of your misery, surely. > > The league would need to determine how the vacant membership is handled, while the EFL would have to deal with the consequences under its own regulations. > > And the EFL’s regulations acknowledge that unusual circumstances can require adjustments to the promotion/relegation structure, potentially over more than one season.

The biggest unanswered question will remain “What happens to City?” until something actually happens to City.

We might get the answer soon. We might get the answer in 2027. Maybe even 2030. It hopefully won’t take as long as the court case. Importantly, a punishment can be dished out during the appeal process.

Could Manchester City be hit with a points deduction for several seasons?

The rules don’t say “you can only deduct points from one season”.

Premier League rule W.64.4.2 says the Commission can “deduct points scored or to be scored” in league matches. That wording potentially gives the Commission scope to deal with future points as well.

However, the rules don’t expressly say that a points deduction can be split across multiple seasons, nor do they provide a formula for how such a punishment would work.

A combination of sanctions can be imposed and penalties can be made conditional.

Dumbing it down once again, the options are:

- One-off punishment - City receive a large points deduction in the current season or a future season. - Potential multi-season punishment - The Commission could potentially structure sanctions to affect points in more than one season, although there is no published formula or precedent establishing exactly how this would work. - Conditional punishment - City receive a punishment which is triggered or altered depending on what happens in the future.

The rules specifically allow the Commission to make a penalty conditional and also allow it to impose “any combination” of the listed sanctions.

Again, the list of sanctions being non-exhaustive is relevant. The Commission’s sanctioning powers are broad.

To summarise and attempt to answer the initial question: Yes, several points deductions are theoretically possible.

Can the EFL issue a points deduction for a Premier League case?

As you’re well aware by now, the EFL and Premier League work from different rulebooks, making a points deduction in a lower league a complicated matter.

City’s case involves a Premier League disciplinary Commission that is independent of the Premier League itself.

But there is actually a specific rule covering what happens if a club is no longer a Premier League member when its punishment is imposed.

Rule W.64.10 says that where a Respondent is no longer a member of the Premier League when a sanction is to be imposed, the Commission can make a recommendation to the EFL, or the relevant EFL disciplinary body, as to the sanction that should be imposed on the club.

That is pretty significant.

It means the Premier League rules themselves envisage a situation where a club can leave the Premier League before its punishment has been decided, with the independent Commission then able to make a recommendation to the EFL.

However, that does not mean the Premier League Commission can simply deduct points from City in the Championship.

The distinction is important: Premier League Commission > recommends an EFL sanction > EFL deals with it under its own regulations.

So if City were relegated or expelled before the sanction was imposed, the Commission could potentially recommend that the EFL impose a points deduction in the Championship. Whether and how that recommendation was implemented would then be a matter for the EFL and its own regulations.

And we have a recent example of the mechanism being used.

Leicester City were investigated by the EFL for breaching the EFL’s Profit & Sustainability Rules during the 2023/24 season. When Leicester were promoted to the Premier League in 2024, the EFL transferred jurisdiction over the ongoing investigation to the Premier League. An independent Premier League Commission subsequently recommended a six-point Championship deduction when they were relegated again. The EFL Board then ratified that recommendation under its regulations.

That might sound like a perfect precedent for City, but it isn’t.

The crucial difference is that Leicester’s underlying offence was an EFL offence.

The Premier League explicitly confirmed that Leicester had breached the EFL’s Profit & Sustainability Rules, which is why the case could follow Leicester into the Premier League after their promotion.

City’s case is different. The charges against them are breaches of Premier League rules.

So Leicester is not a precedent for saying that a Premier League Commission can simply punish a club in the Championship for a purely Premier League offence.

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