Manchester City risk being banned from more than just the Premier League if they are found guilty of serious breaches of its financial rules.
It can be revealed that City are at risk of being banned from both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, and there is no certainty that they will be able to continue playing in the Champions League or the Club World Cup.
As revealed by Sports Telegraph at the beginning of the The so-called 'trial of the century' in what are between 115 and 130 charges against City, their Premier League rivals I don't think a one-time point deduction is a sufficient punishment. If they are found guilty of the vast majority of the crimes they are accused of having committed.
Expulsion from the world's richest league would satisfy those calling for a harsher sanction but would also risk plunging English football into chaos and could lead to its four-time defending champions continuing to play in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and Champions League.
However, the rules of the two domestic cup competitions raise the possibility that City's exile from football could extend beyond the Premier League.
Clause 31 of the FA Cup rules, for example, states: “Where a club has been admitted to participate in the competition but is subsequently eliminated from the league in which it competes (or its league fixtures are suspended), the Professional Game Board (PGB) may remove the club from the competition.”
The PGB is made up of representatives from the Premier League and the English Football League.
Meanwhile, the EFL Cup rules define participating clubs as “each member of the League and each member of the Premier League.”
The rules governing the Champions League appear to be more complex, with teams needing a UEFA club licence to play in European competitions.
UEFA, the FA and the Premier League have roles in the administration of these licences and Sports Telegraph It has not been able to determine whether expulsion from a national league could be grounds for withdrawal.
Similarly, the detailed regulations governing the expanded FIFA Club World Cup that starts this summer (for which City qualified after winning the Champions League last year) do not appear to be publicly available.
However, if City are banned from all domestic football, they could find it very difficult to continue playing in the Champions League and Club World Cup, given the long gaps they would face between competitive games.
The prospect of them winning those competitions at the end of a season in which they are eliminated from the Premier League and potentially other competitions would also upset rival clubs and their supporters.
City have repeatedly denied wrongdoing before and after being charged by the Premier League and say they have a “full body of irrefutable evidence” to back up their position and “look forward to this matter being resolved once and for all”.
