Man City FFP: ‘Lifelong Man Utd fan’ on five-person panel deciding City punishment

We can’t foresee Manchester City or their fans having any issue with one of the five individuals tasked with deciding upon their punishment being a “lifelong Manchester United fan”.

City were found guilty of breaching 114 Premier League rules by an independent commission last month, as the panel found them to have used ‘sham’ sponsorship deals to boost they earnings by around £900m between 2009 and 2018.

The club have now appealed that verdict as they insist upon their innocence and claim they have ‘irrefutable evidence’ to prove it, in the form of documents showing that the sponsorship funds came from the Abu Dhabi government rather from their owners.

Possible punishments include fines, transfer bans, points deductions, Premier League expulsion and titles being stripped, while the owners could also be removed by the Independent Football Regulator.

It’s not known when the sanction hearing will take place, but it’s been suggested that the process will be undertaken alongside the ongoing appeal.

The initial three-person commission who found Man City guilty will ultimately decide upon their punishment, but the Premier League’s board – made up of five individuals – has the responsibility of recommending a sanction.

The board comprises the league’s chair, chief executive, and three independent non-executive directors.

No club representatives are included in order to provide independence and neutrality, though Man City may well question a lack of prejudice upon discovering that chair Alison Brittain ‘describes herself as a “lifelong Manchester United fan [who] stood in the Stretford End before it had seats, as a kid” because of her family’s allegiance’, according to BBC Sport.

The ‘Red Cartel’ get everywhere, don’t they?

Speaking in 2024, Brittain hailed the Premier League as “the most exciting competition in the world”, but acknowledged the league was “not without its challenges”.

She also recently said that “the whole point of running the league… is to make sure the competitive balance stays really good. Because what makes us successful is this virtuous circle of anyone could win any match any day… there has to be jeopardy.”

She added: “Someone has to care about keeping that balance, because if you ask the clubs they’d rather not have that balance because they’d like to win all the time.”

Asked if that was her job, she replied: “Absolutely. That’s my job.”

CEO Richard Masters is also on the board along with former Sky executive Mai Fyfield, technology venture capitalist Dharmash Mistry and senior barrister Matthew Ryder.