Former Man City chairman adamant punishment must be more than a fine – ‘Something terminal…’
Former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein doesn’t feel a fine would do anything to the club, and therefore their punishment for financial breaches must be “terminal.”
City have been investigated for 115 financial rule breaches, after years of hearings. They have been found guilty of most of those breaches.
Many feel it was an open secret at the club that this was coming now, hence the departure namely of Pep Guardiola, but also big-name players such as Rodri and Bernardo Silva.
There is yet to be a punishment levied on City, but suggestions are anything from a fine to a relegation – or multiple relegations.
Former City chair Bernstein doesn’t feel a fine would do anything for a club who spent over £1billion in nine seasons.
David Bernstein feels sporting sanctions required
Speaking to talkSPORT, Bernstein said:” I would first of all say that financial penalties will not be enough.
“We’re talking about a club with limitless pockets – money doesn’t mean very much as we saw in the last transfer window. Whether it’s [a fine of] £100m, £200m, that would not be sufficient.
“Unfortunately, I say all of these things with great sorrow, I really do, as a fan. I think there has to be something that will affect their league status. And if it was to be a points deduction, it depends on timing.
“Because if it was today, with the season just a few games in, and the points deduction had to be something that was terminal as far as their Premier League status was concerned [i.e leading to relegation], I worked out you’d have to have something like 80 points deducted, which would mean the club could not recover this season and would go down.
“But if this happens at the end of the season, because of the appeals and so on, it’s a different kettle of fish, and then you may be talking about an automatic relegation – to which division I don’t know. I think it does depend partly on the timing.”
Juventus and Rangers are examples of clubs being relegated for serious breaches of rules in the past, so there is a precedent that suggests City could be thrown out of the Premier League.
That would be an enormous shock to the system to one of the most successful clubs in the Premier League era.
READ MORE: Arsenal make Erling Haaland move after Fabrizio Romano confirms striker plans and Man City FFP guilty verdict
