Man City charges: What happens to the eight titles now?

There is little appetite within the Premier League for Manchester City to be stripped of the eight trophies they won between 2009 and 2018, the period in which they were found guilty of the majority of 115 charges relating to financial rule breaches, BBC Sport reports, citing sources within the organisation and clubs.

The final decision, however, rests with an independent panel that has yet to hold a sanction hearing, meaning the option cannot be ruled out, though a points deduction, fine or possible expulsion are considered more likely outcomes.

Premier League rules do not directly reference title-stripping as a sanction, but allow a disciplinary panel to impose a penalty “as it shall think fit,” theoretically including retrospective points deductions or reallocation of titles. City were accused of inflating sponsorship revenue from connected companies and making other “off the books” payments to circumvent financial rules. The club has always denied wrongdoing.

Any reallocation would raise questions over runners-up including Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal across multiple competitions, while also reviving scrutiny of Chelsea’s trophies, given the club’s own admitted secret payments to agents between 2011 and 2018.

Former City midfielder Rodri dismissed talk of the club losing titles, saying on Friday, “What we did, they cannot take out of us. It’s something that is not paid by money. It’s paid with effort, with the damage, with, you know, being shoulder to shoulder every day.”

Compensation claims from rival clubs for lost earnings are considered more likely than title-stripping, with a lawyer warning the scope of potential claimants “is endless and potentially so destructive to the whole ecosystem.”