Former City chairman calls for relegation after financial-rule verdict

Manchester City should be expelled from the Premier League if its appeal against a financial-rule verdict fails, the club’s former chairman David Bernstein has said. An independent commission found City guilty of arranging what it called sham contracts with commercial partners over a nine-season period from 2009 to 2018. The arrangements were found to have artificially inflated the club’s revenues and reduced its costs.

The commission also found City guilty on most charges relating to its failure to co-operate with the Premier League investigation. No sanction has yet been imposed. City has rejected the verdict and said it will appeal.

Bernstein, who was City chairman from 1998 to 2003, told the BBC that the findings were exceptionally serious. He questioned whether members of the board should remain in place and said those involved should face immediate suspension. He argued that any punishment could not be limited to a financial penalty because the credibility of the league was at stake.

If City’s appeal fails, Bernstein said, the club “cannot stay in the league”. The commission said City had overstated its income by more than £830m through a system known as Project Longbow, according to the independent commission’s findings. It described one arrangement involving a company called Fordham as a disguised funding scheme.

The commission said Fordham was effectively a front for Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development, the group that owned City, to provide additional funds. It also said parts of Project Longbow were legitimate attempts to increase revenue and reduce losses, but that the Fordham arrangement was not. Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy told the BBC the report was extremely serious, while acknowledging City’s right to appeal.

The possible sanctions include relegation, a points deduction or a substantial fine.