Manchester City has been found ‘cheating on an industrial scale.’ What comes next?

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It’s one of the most extraordinary and monumental moments in the history of the Premier League – a story that has threatened and continues to endanger the very integrity of soccer in England.

Manchester City , one of the most successful teams in the world in recent years, has been found guilty of systematically cheating – financially doping its way to dominance for the best part of a decade.

Ever since this issue sprung into public consciousness in 2018 through a series of leaked emails, this saga has rumbled on in the background. But now, the lid has been blown off, and the outcome could be devastating for the club.

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On Tuesday, the Premier League – the domestic competition in which City plays – finally broke its silence with a blistering statement that revealed the outcome of an independent commission.

It said the club was guilty of seriously breaching the league’s financial rules “ well over 100 individual ” times between 2009 and 2018 through a series of “sham” contracts and commercial agreements that helped conceal “the true state of its finances” by disguising what was essentially secret funding from its UAE ownership.

The league also said the club overstated its income by roughly $1.18 billion (£900 million) and understated its expenses by tens of millions, while also trying to cover up its efforts during the investigation.

Manchester City, though, says it has “irrefutable evidence” that proves its innocence and will appeal the verdict.

But should that appeal be unsuccessful and City is eventually nailed to rights, just how devastating could the punishment be?

To understand the severity of this matter, it’s important to understand the context around the club.

In 2008, Manchester City was bought by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan through the Abu Dhabi United Group.

Under the new regime, the club saw a total overhaul. Billions were spent on upgrading the team’s stadium, training complex and, more importantly, playing squad. Some of the world’s best soccer stars and managers suddenly started signing for a club that had been languishing in mediocrity for some time.

The result was City becoming one of the most potent forces in the sport, winning three Premier League titles, three League Cups and one FA Cup during the period covered by the charges.

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The new era saw history made, creating some of the most iconic moments the league has ever seen and giving its fans memories that would last a lifetime.

That period also provided the foundations for where City currently sits within the top echelons of world soccer – having won the UEFA Champions League back in 2023 and winning four consecutive Premier Leagues from 2021 to 2024.

Now, though, the independent panel says it was all done illegally – a “sham,” as it said eight times in its redacted findings.

And it’s not as though this is the first time that City has faced allegations of financial misconduct. In 2020, the club was initially banned from European soccer for two seasons for “serious breaches” of financial regulations by continental governing body UEFA. The ban was later overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which also reduced the accompanying $34 million fine to $11.3 million, ruling that City had failed to cooperate with UEFA.

But the result of this latest case with the Premier League could seriously damage the club going forward.

According to the official league handbook, potential punishments could include a hefty points deduction, an unlimited fine, or even expulsion from the league entirely.

A case of this size has no precedent. Yes, clubs have fallen foul of slightly breaking Premier League rules in the past and have received points deductions as a result.

But as former England international and current pundit Ian Wright says, this is “cheating on an industrial scale.”

“It’s quite surreal seeing it written down like that,” he said on ITV . “I feel unprecedented punishment is required here.”

That punishment could be unlimited. That points deduction, for example, could be so big that it essentially relegates City into the Championship – the second tier of English soccer – or, as has been suggested by English media and pundits, spread out over multiple years to severely hamstring the club’s efforts to qualify for anything notable for the foreseeable future.

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There has also been talk that the club should be stripped of all the titles and trophies it won during the period in question. And while that makes sense on the surface, it also opens up another can of worms.

If City has its three league titles taken away from it, what happens to the teams that finished second that year? If those runners-up are awarded the league title, do they then deserve the prize money that would have come with it?

Also, what happens to all the teams that dropped points to City during those nine years? City’s results would have contributed to teams being relegated from the top division, or missing out on lucrative Champions League places. Could there be a scenario where every club during that period seeks compensation through legal actions for lost earnings and revenue? That process would surely take years.

And while this is a logistical headache for people in suits and boardrooms, the length of this case continues to undermine what’s happening on the pitch.

Already, despite the upcoming appeal, that nine-year period of the league now comes with an asterisk. All those titles won, goals scored and memories made have been cast in shadow for the players and fans who lived them.

“(City) knew it would hurt a lot of people, but they still done it,” former Manchester United and Ireland star and current pundit Roy Keane told ITV . “If I was a player, I would 100% be sticking those medals in the bin. It’s cheating.”

It’s a similar sentiment felt by former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher who told Sky Sports that he’d be “furious” if he was a City player from that time.

“I actually feel for the Man City players. I mean, as a team, what they’ve done is wrong. The Premier League have called it a sham five times in this statement.

“In terms of individual players, some of them were coming out to bat for the club and, you know as they would, that’s normal right now, and it must be very difficult for them to see what’s going on right now.

All of this has also been incredibly damaging for the Premier League’s reputation.

Ultimately, the ideal situation for the league would have been City being found innocent because things could have returned back to normal relatively quickly – even if opposition fans would have objected. It’s telling, then, that the league’s statement is so strong. It suggests just how much cheating and blatant disregard for the rules it thinks has gone on behind closed doors.

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What happens next is unclear. City will appeal, we know that, and the Premier League is keen to close this matter as soon as possible and decide on a punishment fitting for the charges.

But the longer City digs its heels in, the more damaging this will get for everyone involved.

The club shows no signs of backing down, though, with CEO Ferran Soriano calling the case a “Premier League conspiracy theory” in an internal video sent to club staff after the verdict was announced.

Without knowing the outcome or City’s possible punishment – which the league has said will come at a later date by the independent commission – the pure essence of the Premier League is lost. If all of City’s results are to be scrapped this season, next season, or in four seasons to come, then whatever happens in the meantime is somewhat meaningless. The all-or-nothing nature of sports gets muddled with asterisks and different permutations.

It’s a sad state of affairs that could genuinely take weeks, months or even years to conclude, given City is showing no signs of backing down and can afford, ironically, the best legal team in the world.

Manchester City will next play on October 11 against Liverpool – one of the teams that missed out on winning a league title during the period of the charges.

Current City manager Enzo Maresca will have to try focus his plethora of star players – such as striker Erling Haaland – after what must have been a turbulent week for everyone involved at the club.

All of a sudden, their futures are very uncertain.

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这是英超联赛历史上最非凡、最具里程碑意义的时刻之一——这个故事已经并将继续威胁英格兰足球的完整性。

曼城是近年来世界上最成功的球队之一，但该队被发现有系统性作弊的罪行——在过去近十年里，他们通过经济手段作弊，最终称霸赛场。

自2018年一系列泄露邮件将此事曝光以来，这场风波一直在暗中酝酿。但如今，真相终于大白，其后果可能对俱乐部造成毁灭性打击。

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周二，英超联赛（曼城所在的国内赛事）终于打破沉默，发表了一份措辞严厉的声明，公布了独立委员会的调查结果。

声明称，该俱乐部在 2009 年至 2018 年间，通过一系列“虚假”合同和商业协议，严重违反了联赛的财务规则，“超过 100 次”，这些合同和商业协议掩盖了“其真实的财务状况”，掩盖了其阿联酋所有者提供的秘密资金。

联盟还表示，该俱乐部虚报收入约 11.8 亿美元（9 亿英镑），虚报支出数千万美元，同时还试图掩盖其在调查期间的行为。

不过，曼城方面表示，他们有“无可辩驳的证据”证明自己是清白的，并将对判决提出上诉。

但如果上诉失败，曼城最终被判胜诉，那么惩罚将会有多么严重？

要了解这件事的严重性，就必须了解俱乐部的背景。

2008 年，曼城被谢赫·曼苏尔·本·扎耶德·阿勒纳哈扬通过阿布扎比联合集团收购。

在新管理层的领导下，俱乐部进行了彻底的改革。数十亿资金被用于升级球队的体育场、训练基地，更重要的是，用于提升球员阵容。一些世界顶级的足球明星和教练突然纷纷加盟这家此前长期处于平庸状态的俱乐部。

结果是曼城成为这项运动中最具实力的球队之一，在指控所涵盖的时期内赢得了三个英超联赛冠军、三个联赛杯冠军和一个足总杯冠军。

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新时代见证了历史的诞生，创造了联盟历史上一些最具标志性的时刻，并为球迷们留下了终生难忘的回忆。

那段时期也为曼城目前在世界足球顶级联赛中的地位奠定了基础——他们在 2023 年赢得了欧洲冠军联赛冠军，并在 2021 年至 2024 年连续四次赢得英超联赛冠军。

但现在，独立小组表示，这一切都是非法的——正如其在经过删减的调查结果中八次提到的那样，这是一场“骗局”。

这并非曼城首次面临财务违规指控。2020年，该俱乐部最初因“严重违反”欧足联财务规定而被禁赛两个赛季。后来，国际体育仲裁法庭（CAS）推翻了这一禁令，并将3400万美元的罚款减至1130万美元，理由是曼城未能与欧足联合作。

但此次与英超联赛的纠纷结果可能会严重损害俱乐部的未来发展。

根据联赛官方手册，可能的处罚包括扣除大量积分、无限额罚款，甚至被完全逐出联赛。

如此重大的案件前所未有。没错，过去确实有俱乐部因为轻微违反英超规则而被扣分。

但正如前英格兰国脚、现任评论员伊恩·赖特所说，这是“大规模的作弊”。

“看到这些文字被写下来，感觉很不真实，”他在接受ITV采访时说。“我觉得必须处以前所未有的惩罚。”

这种惩罚可能没有上限。例如，扣分幅度可能非常大，以至于曼城实际上会被降级到英冠联赛——英格兰足球的第二级别联赛——或者，正如英国媒体和评论员所建议的那样，扣分幅度可以分摊到几年内，从而严重阻碍俱乐部在可预见的未来获得任何重要赛事的资格。

迈克尔·里根/盖蒂图片社

也有人提议剥夺俱乐部在相关时期内赢得的所有冠军头衔和奖杯。虽然这表面上看起来合情合理，但也引发了一系列新的问题。

如果曼城被剥夺了三个联赛冠军头衔，那么当年获得亚军的球队该怎么办？如果这些亚军球队被授予联赛冠军，他们是否也应该获得原本应有的奖金？

此外，那九年间所有输给曼城的球队又该如何处置？曼城的战绩要么导致其他球队降级，要么让他们错失利润丰厚的欧冠资格。会不会出现这样一种局面：所有俱乐部都试图通过法律途径索赔，要求曼城赔偿其损失的收入和利润？这个过程无疑会耗时数年。

虽然这对西装革履的决策者和董事会成员来说是一个后勤上的难题，但此案的漫长审理仍在持续损害球场上正在发生的事情。

尽管即将提起上诉，但联赛的这九年历史如今已蒙上了一层阴影。所有赢得的冠军、攻入的进球以及创造的回忆，对于亲历其中的球员和球迷而言，都已蒙上了一层阴影。

“（曼城）明知这样做会伤害很多人，但他们还是这么做了，”前曼联和爱尔兰球星、现任评论员罗伊·基恩告诉ITV。“如果我是球员，我肯定会把那些奖牌扔进垃圾桶。这是作弊。”

前利物浦球员杰米·卡拉格也有类似的感受，他告诉天空体育，如果他是当时曼城队的球员，他会“非常愤怒”。

“我其实很同情曼城球员。我的意思是，作为一个团队，他们的做法是错误的。英超联赛在这份声明中五次称其为骗局。”

“就个别球员而言，他们中的一些人站出来为俱乐部挺身而出，你知道，就像他们现在会做的那样，这很正常，但对他们来说，看到现在发生的事情肯定非常难过。

所有这一切都对英超联赛的声誉造成了极其严重的损害。

最终，对联赛而言最理想的情况是曼城被判无罪，因为这样一切就能相对迅速地恢复正常——即便对方球迷会反对。因此，联赛的声明如此强硬也就不足为奇了。这表明，联赛认为在幕后究竟发生了多少作弊和公然违反规则的行为。

Mike Morese/MI News/NurPhoto/Getty Images

接下来会发生什么尚不明朗。我们知道曼城将会上诉，而英超联赛也急于尽快结案，并决定对指控做出适当的处罚。

但曼城越是坚持己见，对所有相关人员造成的损害就越大。

不过，俱乐部没有丝毫退让的迹象。在判决宣布后，首席执行官费兰·索里亚诺在一段发送给俱乐部员工的内部视频中称此案是“英超联赛的阴谋论”。

在最终结果和曼城可能受到的处罚（联赛方面表示，处罚将由独立委员会择日公布）尚未可知的情况下，英超联赛的本质已然丧失。如果曼城本赛季、下赛季乃至未来四个赛季的所有比赛成绩都被取消，那么在此期间发生的一切都将变得毫无意义。体育运动非此即彼的本质，将被各种附加条件和不同的结果所模糊。

鉴于曼城没有丝毫退让的迹象，而且讽刺的是，他们有能力聘请世界上最好的律师团队，这种情况可能会持续数周、数月甚至数年才能结束，这令人遗憾。

曼城下一场比赛将于 10 月 11 日对阵利物浦——利物浦是在这起指控事件发生期间未能赢得联赛冠军的球队之一。

在经历了俱乐部所有相关人员都经历了动荡的一周之后，现任曼城主教练恩佐·马雷斯卡将不得不努力集中精力于他麾下的众多明星球员——例如前锋埃尔林·哈兰德。

突然之间，他们的未来变得非常不确定。