Man City FFP: Whether City players can ‘walk away’ from contracts after relegation revealed

A sports lawyer has revealed whether Manchester City’s players could “walk away” from their contracts if the club is relegated.

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Man City have been found guilty on almost all charges after being accused of breaching the Premier League’s FFP rules between 2009 and 2018.

Enzo Maresca‘s side have since submitted an appeal, but they face severe sanctions if they cannot prove their innocence. Their potential punishments include a fine, transfer ban, points deduction, expulsion and/or being stripped of their Premier League titles.

If Man City are sent down to the Championship or below, an additional consequence of their actions would be a player exodus.

It has even been suggested that Man City could also miss out on transfer fees, with players potentially looking to have their contracts ripped up.

“It will not be an automatic option available to Man City players…”

However, leading sports lawyer Dan Chapman has told our colleagues at TEAMtalk that it will not be this simple.

“If City were relegated at the end of this or a subsequent season as a consequence of a points deduction imposed by the Commission, it does not follow that by virtue of that players will be able to walk away from the club and their contracts,” Chapman told TEAMtalk.

READ: ‘Genius’ and ‘greatest achievement in football history’ emerge from ‘brain dead’ Manchester City wreckage

“Whilst it is possible for any player to have negotiated a relegation release clause, those clauses are quite unusual and clubs would only in very exceptional circumstances have agreed to them.

“What is more common, in fact, is that the contracts will expressly provide for a lower salary to be paid to the player following a relegation.

“Is it possible that players who signed for City this summer, or signed new contracts recently, were advised by those representing them that the forthcoming decision of the Commission could potentially result in a relegation and as such protection was required for that player?

“We just do not know, but the point is that unless an express relegation release clause was negotiated, for it is certainly not a standard clause, it will not be an automatic option available to City players.”

READ MORE: Manchester City owners might not match Liverpool’s £5.5bn valuation in forced sale

Still, Chapman has acknowledged that Man City could face legal issues with their players.

“That is not necessarily the end of the matter however,” Chapman continued.

“City players might try and deploy legal arguments based on either the premise that their employment contracts can be terminated as a result of their employer breaching the implied term of trust and confidence, or that they have just cause to terminate their contracts.

“Either argument comes with significant legal complexity and risk and without knowing precisely what players were told about the ongoing Commission proceedings at the point they signed their contracts, if anything, it is difficult to assess whether these routes may be realistic or not.”

READ NEXT: Burnham should be ‘investigated’ over ‘extraordinary’ Manchester City comments