Man City hearing will be entirely in private as club warned of '100-point deduction'

The hearing into Manchester City’s charges for allegedly breaking Premier League financial rules will take place entirely behind closed doors. The reigning champions were charged and referred to an independent commission last February after a four-year investigation.

They were hit with a total of 115 charges, with the alleged offences said to have taken place between 2009 and 2018. City have strongly denied any wrongdoing and have maintained that their case is supported by a ‘comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence’.

The hearing into the charges is set to begin on Monday and will take place entirely in private, meaning no details will be revealed throughout the process. It is expected to run for around 10 weeks, paving the way for a verdict to be announced in early 2025.

If found guilty, a range of punishments could be handed down to City including a limitless fine and expulsion from the Premier League. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes a 100-point deduction could be among the possibilities in a worst-case scenario.

During an appearance on talkSPORT, he said: “If the allegations against Manchester City are proven, that surely has to be a major breach of the rules, effectively that the club misrepresented the money coming into the club.

“The club have also been accused of disguising payments to players and managers through third parties, effectively being paid offshore via Abu Dhabi for services provided by members of staff.

“That is also completely against the rules, one would think, but it could be that it’s within the Premier League rules so we would have to be looking at a very significant points deduction.

“If all 115 charges are proven, then you would imagine the points deduction would be somewhere in the region of 60 to 100 points on the basis they would want the club to suffer enough to be heading out of the division.”

City have not played outside of England’s top flight since 2002, when they won promotion to the Premier League as champions of the old Division One. They have since established themselves as the country’s leading football force, winning six titles in the last seven years.

Pep Guardiola admitted on Friday that he was glad the hearing was finally about to get underway, saying: “It starts soon and hopefully finishes soon, an independent panel will decide and I am looking forward to the decision. I’m happy it’s starting on Monday.

“I know there will be more rumours, new specialists about the sentences. We’re going to see. I know what people are looking forward to, what they expect. I know what I read for many, many years. Everybody is innocent until guilt is proven, so we’ll see.”