30/09/2026

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Premier League set for long wait … as Man City face prospect of sanctions M ANCHESTER CITY may face sanctions ranging from fines and a points deduction to relegation after being found guilty of 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules but the road to any enforce ment remains long with the club expected to appeal. A football source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed last week’s media reports that the independent panel found City guilty on all but one of the charges and told Reuters on Monday that the process was expected to “drag on.”

EFC board club will clear their name: City CEO Soriano

MANCHESTER CITY chief executive Ferran Soriano said that the club would do everything to clear their name when addressing the European Football Clubs board on yesterday, adding the procedure would take years before reaching an end, a source familiar with the dis cussions told Reuters. Soriano, who sits on EFC’s board, also declined to comment to report ers on City being found guilty of 114 of 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, according to media reports con firmed to Reuters by a source familiar with the situation. City are expected to appeal and have consistently denied wrongdo ing. The case will provide one back drop to the General Assembly, which brings together some 500 of the 850 members of the EFC in Copenhagen for Tuesday’s meeting and comes at a time when governance questions are also dominating debate at the top of the world game. EFC chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi is due to address delegates, with Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin also attending. Fifa President Gianni Infantino was invited but is very unlikely to be present with the Fifa delegation expected to be repre

sented by Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom. At global level, Infantino has pro posed an independent external review of Fifa’s governance and deci sion-making after the collapse of a plan to bring private investment into its commercial rights business, a pro posal that triggered resistance from several confederations and national associations. The debate has raised broader questions about how major deci sions are taken, how much power rests with Fifa’s leadership and what role clubs, leagues, confederations and national associations should have in shaping the game. The City case adds a domestic dimension to the same debate, focusing attention on financial regu lation, enforcement and the rela tionship between powerful clubs and governing bodies. No sanction has yet been announced and the process is not complete. Ceferin’s presence will add further weight to the general assembly, with Uefa itself central to the wider debate over governance, regulation and the balance of power across European and world football. – Reuters

League season, in which City lead the table after five straight wins, may end without an official verdict and punishments being announced, leaving the world’s richest football league in limbo. Even if the verdict and punishments are announced, the appeal process may delay the imposition of any sanctions while the season continues or even concludes. But if the case is wrapped up before the end of the cam paign, a large points deduction may plunge City from being a title contender into a relegation battler. If the charges stand, the points deduction may even be big enough to make it practically impossible to avoid the drop. But there is also the possibility that City may face an even harsher punishment, as Juventus did following a corruption case surrounding the manipulation of referee assignments that rocked Italian soccer two decades ago. While many clubs faced heavy sanctions including points deductions, Juve paid the biggest price following the “Calciopoli” scandal, as they were stripped of two Serie A titles and relegated to Serie B. The 2004/05 Serie A season no longer has a champion, while the 2005-06 title was awarded to Inter Milan. A similar retroactive change in the Premier League’s championship history could affect all clubs and the credibility of the competition itself. There may also be legal challenges from other clubs, claiming lost prize money and missed financial opportunities, if City are judged to have gained a sporting advan tage from the activities they have been charged with. – Reuters

City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak responded to reports of a guilty verdict with an open letter to fans, saying the club, who have always denied wrongdoing after the charges were announced in February 2023, remain confident of proving their case. “The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the club’s inno cence is just as strong as when this began,” he wrote last weekend. A three-person board would hear the case if City appeal after the guilty ruling by the independent judicial panel. They cannot go to sport’s highest court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which overturned City’s two-year Champions League ban, imposed by European soccer’s gov erning Uefa for overstating sponsorship revenue between 2012 and 2016. But the appeal process may be a long way off given the number of charges, covering nine seasons from 2009 to 2018, which required a four-year investigation before charges were announced. It is possible that the current Premier

Pochettino breaks his silence FORMER Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino expressed sadness at Manchester City being found guilty of breach ing financial rules, saying that if true, it would confirm “a period of deception” in the sport. Yesterday, a football source confirmed media reports that an independent panel had found City guilty of 114 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules. City, who have always denied any wrong doing, could face sanctions ranging from fines and a points deduction to relegation. “Whatever punishment (they choose), it’s impossible to turn back time. It’s done a lot of damage,” Pochettino, now coach of the US men’s team, told reporters yesterday. “At the end of the day many clubs followed the rules and some didn’t … What are they going to do? An economic punishment? Docking points? It’s really hard. It’s sad. “At the end of the day, we went through something where sporting fairness didn’t exist … If it’s true all of the 114 rules that were bro ken, we’ve lived through a period of decep tion.” Earlier this month, Pochettino said Chelsea should be stripped of their 2016/17 Premier League title and that it should be handed to Tottenham following the Stamford Bridge club’s record fine for rule breaches this year. The Argentine manager pointed to Tottenham’s complete lack of transfer activity for a spell during his tenure, when they were constrained by the financial demands of build ing a new stadium. “I think we were the only team in the his tory of the Premier League with 18 months without (making a transfer),” he added. “They were so strict with us but also so leni ent with others. Because of that, that’s why I say, it’s all very strange.” Manchester City did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment outside regular business hours. – Reuters

France’s Michael Olise celebrates after the Nations League Group A1 victory over Belgium at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels

Olise produces late heroics as France edge Belgium

yesterday. – AFPPIC

MICHAEL OLISE’S magnificent late strike gave France a 1-0 victory in Belgium in the Uefa Nations League yesterday as Zinedine Zidane made it two wins out of two since being named coach. Bayern Munich star Olise, who was one of the outstanding players at the World Cup in which France reached the semifinals, came off the bench late on with the game in Brussels goalless, and set off from inside his own half to score the winner in the 88th minute. “He is a pure talent and he loves to just play. You can see it. He feels the game. I am pleased to be at his side,” Zidane, who sprinted down the touchline and booted a ball to celebrate the goal, told broadcaster TF1 . The win follows a 1-0 success away to Turkiye last weekend in Zidane’s first game at the helm after succeeding Didier Deschamps as coach fol lowing the World Cup.

Zidane was without captain Kylian Mbappe here with the Real Madrid striker having returned to his club for treatment after injuring his left knee while scoring the winner against Turkiye. Belgium, in contrast, made only two changes to the team that started last weekend’s 2-0 win in Italy for what was new coach Mark van Bommel’s home bow. Bosnia registered an emphatic 4-2 win away to Romania in Bucharest in Group B4 but Sweden lead the group two points above Bosnia after a second home win, this time 3-1 over Poland. The two Group B2 fixtures ended goalless with Ukraine away in Georgia and Northern Ireland home to Hungary. Montenegro won 3-2 in Armenia to move three points clear of their opponents on six points atop Group C2 where Latvia and Cyprus drew 0-0 in Riga to each pick up their first point. – AFP/Reuters

France are therefore top of Nations League Group A1 with six points, three points ahead of Belgium and Italy, who won 4-1 in Turkiye yester day. Les Bleus play host to Italy next at the Stade de France on Saturday on what will be Zidane’s homecoming. France will then entertain Belgium next Tuesday. “We need a rest now. We have done a lot of travelling and not much training or resting,” said Zidane. “We were really good in every department. Against a really good Belgium side who made us suffer we held out, we played really well, and we were brave. “We had some difficulties in the second half at times but that was to be expected with all the changes we made. I think we dominated the game. Overall we deserved to win and we got the goal towards the end.”