As most fans of Manchester City know by now, the club has been found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges it was facing, stemming from a lack of disclosing finances properly and discrepancies about who was being paid how much and why. Plus, the ownership group, Abu Dhabi United Group, refused to really help in the investigation. But what comes next is the worst part.
And that could be fairly soon. Now that the club has been found guilty, the next step is determining what type of punishment could be handed down. No one knows for sure what it will be, and it could be a combination of things. A hefty fine is almost certain, but that is for the ownership group, led by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to worry about.
It was Sheikh Mansour's ownership group that started this whole mess anyway. They poured money into the club, which helped churn out a winner. Would fans give all that back now? Maybe not.
Manchester City could be looking at a battle to keep from being relegated after the international break
But that is a concern for another time. Following the international break, the club could theoretically be facing the worst situation a Premier League club could: Relegation. That is at least one of the many possible results that could happen based on the proportionate punishment the club receives.
What is expected is that the punishment will have immediate effects, and not necessarily retroactive ones. In other words, previously won titles aren't thought to be taken away initially. Other clubs could sue for that to occur, but that would take time.
Some will argue that a club that was gaming the financial system of the league shouldn't be able to keep winnings that occurred because the club was, in essence, cheating. That could be an argument easily won.
But a more immediate, impactful possibility is that Man City is deducted points this season, and not necessarily from matches won. Instead, the Premier League could deduct, say, 30 points from City. The Blues might find that they have gone from 15 points in five games, leading the league by three points, to a negative number that they are trying to work their way back from.
Sure, there is a lot of the season left, and Manchester City has the talent to get back toward the halfway point of the standings, but maybe so many points are deducted that the fight is ultimately fruitless, and the club will be relegated. That could happen anyway, even if no points are deducted, if the league completely boots City from the pyramid, forcing City to reapply.
The bottom line is that the punishment will fit the crimes of the Man City ownership group, and those crimes are historically bad. There is no real way out of the mess, and the club and its fans will suffer. What remains and cannot be taken away is all those blissful memories of winning titles, financially earned or not.
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