Manchester City reportedly found guilty of financial breach what what might happen next
It’s a saga that has gripped English soccer and beyond: Did Manchester City engage in large-scale rule-breaking in an effort to transform itself into a global superpower that has won multiple Premier League titles and the Champions League?The answer, it appears, is yes.In a stunning development Friday, several media outlets — including the BBC — reported that City has been found guilty of almost all of the 115 charges leveled against the Abu Dhabi-controlled club by the Premier League for alleged breaches of financial rules for much of the last two decades.There still has been no official announcement of the verdict that could have seismic ramifications in the English game for years to come.City, after all, has been the dominant force in the country since 2012, with its expensively assembled squads — featuring top players like Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland — winning eight Premier League titles, many domestic cups and the Champions League in 2023.In that period, the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United — the neighbor in whose shadow City lived for so long — were mostly left trophyless.“I think it’s going to be the biggest case of its kind in English football history, without a doubt,” said Dave Powell, a soccer finance expert and lecturer at the University Campus of Football Business in Manchester.Here’s a closer look at the case that everyone in soccer is talking about, and what could happen next:In February 2023, the Premier League went to battle against its own champion team in unprecedented fashion, releasing a long statement detailing a list of 80 alleged breaches of its financial rules by City from 2009-18, the first nine seasons under Abu Dhabi ownership.The violations included failing to provide accurate financial information and submitting inflated figures for sponsorship deals out of Abu Dhabi; hiding payments that supplemented salaries of managers and players; and breaching financial rules established...