Things have just gone from bad to worse for Manchester City after the bombshell news of their two-year European ban was confirmed. According to the Independent, the Citizens could now be facing a Premier League points deduction.
UEFA announced on Friday that the reigning champions of England would be barred for two years from both the Champions League and Europa League for breaching FFP rules. Furthermore, the Etihad Stadium side have been hit with a $32M fine.
Now, Man City could be looking at punishment from the Premier League. The reason for this is that the English top-flight have their own rules and regulations which adhere to UEFA's FFP stipulations. City have been found guilty of overstating their sponsorship, which has also landed them in hot water domestically.
This is because to attain a Premier League license, the Manchester giants have to supply true information regarding their finances. However, the info they have supplied would have had to match the one submitted to UEFA, which has been found to be inaccurate. The league organizers have already discussed possible punishments should the Citizens be found guilty and banned from Europe, which they have, with points deduction in the Premier League looking to be a likeliest outcome.
Guardiola's side have already announced that they will appeal this decision from UEFA's Adjudicatory Chamber and will now take their fight to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. While the CAS can overturn the UEFA ban, that might not be possible for any punishment from the Premier League.
It will be interesting to see how this case unfolds. The Abu Dhabi-owned club look set to miss out $222M with this ban and will thus not go down without a fight. Pep's side already trail league leaders Liverpool by 22 points and if they were to be docked points, that should officially be the end of their title defense. Aguero and Co. sit in second but it remains unknown how the league would reallocate their Champions League spot should they finish in the top four.
