CONFIRMED
The chair of the Independent Football Regulator says his body could force Manchester City’s owners to sell if the club is ultimately found to have been run improperly. David Kogan made the comments on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast, as reported by ESPN, but stressed it was premature to discuss any action while City’s appeal is pending. The Premier League’s own punishment has still not been set.
What we know
ESPN reports Kogan’s words in full: “We have the power to ask an owner to step away from a club if we believe that they run a club in a way that is neither fit, fair or done with propriety.” Asked whether an owner could simply refuse to divest, he replied: “No, no, no. We’ve got absolute power to do so.”
Kogan also drew a clear line that some headlines have blurred. Unlike the Premier League, the regulator cannot take action against the club through fines or points deductions. Sporting punishment belongs to the Premier League’s independent commission, as the league confirmed on 2 Oct. The IFR’s lever is ownership, not the league table.
The verdict itself is not settled: City have lodged a formal appeal against it, calling it “unsafe”. On 29 Sep the Premier League confirmed City were found guilty of almost all of the 115 charges, covering breaches of its financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18. ESPN’s headline figure of £830m refers to inflated commercial revenue alone.
On punishment, the Premier League confirmed a separate, private sanction hearing. The commission has broad discretion, with options ranging from a reprimand, fine, suspension or points deduction up to expulsion in the worst case. As AP notes, no team has ever been expelled from English football’s top flight. Sky Sports reports that rival clubs will not be involved, and that the same three-person panel will decide after the Premier League, as prosecutor, recommends a penalty and City’s lawyers respond.
City lodged their appeal at 7pm on Thursday 1 Oct, saying the decision contains “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact” and is unsafe. The Premier League confirmed it went to the Chair of the Judicial Panel. AP reports that under league rules the appeal hearing should finish within 12 weeks of filing and cannot exceed five consecutive days.
What is rumored
SportBible, relaying a Daily Mail report, claims the Premier League is pushing for City’s sanction to be announced before the appeal outcome. This is secondhand tabloid aggregation. The league has not confirmed it, and AP says there has been no word on timing.
Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol reports that rival clubs do not expect City to be in the league next season if the appeal fails. Sky is a major outlet, but this reflects the mood of unnamed rivals, not a decision.
Yahoo Sports, citing no named official source, speculates about several seasons in the Championship. A SportBible round-up gathers further speculation from the Manchester Evening News, Footie Central and NewcastleWorld about points deductions, fines, stripped honours and expulsion. We could not verify those pieces. Pundit Martin Keown, quoted by SportBible, said he had heard rumours about the appeal outcome. That is hearsay from someone with no access to the proceedings.
What we don’t know yet
The sanction. Nothing has been set, and the hearing stays confidential until publication is permitted.
Whether any sanction can land before the appeal is decided. AP reports no word either way.
The appeal outcome, and whether the regulator will act at all.
What it means
City now face two separate fronts. The Premier League commission decides the sporting punishment. The regulator, if the verdict stands, could look at whether the owners are fit to stay. Mixing the two up is how a podcast quote becomes a “regulator relegates City” headline, and that headline is wrong.
On realistic punishment, the rulebook is wide open. Expulsion is on the list, but it would be unprecedented. Everything between a fine and a heavy points deduction sits within the commission’s discretion.
For the clubs around them, the stakes are obvious: a major deduction or removal would reshape title races, European places and the relegation fight. Yet rivals have no seat in the hearing room. Fair play to City as well, because their appeal is live and they call the verdict unsafe. Until the panels rule, the whistle hasn’t gone.
