{
  "id": 10908563,
  "title": "Man City must be relegated after guilty verdict says club’s former chairman",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/man-city-must-be-relegated-after-guilty-verdict-says-clubs-former",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-30T09:15:51.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Citizen",
    "slug": "the-citizen",
    "url": "https://www.citizen.co.za/sport/soccer/world-soccer/man-city-must-be-relegated-after-guilty-verdict-says-clubs-former-chairman/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein has stated that the club should be relegated from the Premier League following a guilty verdict for breaching financial rules. The club was found guilty of arranging \"sham\" contracts with commercial partners to artificially inflate their revenues and reduce costs. This scheme concealed the true state of their finances and avoided breaches of Premier League and UEFA spending limits. The independent commission also found the club guilty on the majority of charges related to their failure to cooperate with the league's investigation. While City could face sanctions such as relegation, a points deduction, or a hefty fine, no sanction has been imposed yet. The club plans to appeal the decision. Bernstein expressed strong disapproval of the club's actions, saying the sanctions must be far beyond financial penalties. British government's Culture, Media and Sport secretary Lisa Nandy suggested that relegation could not be ruled out if City's appeal fails. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire noted that the breaches appear even worse than initially suspected, suggesting collusion within the club. Maguire offered a glimmer of hope for City's appeal, stating that it is difficult but not impossible for Manchester City to argue that it is a commercial dispute between two entities and thus should be dealt with by standard legal courts. However, even a devoted fan of the club, David Mooney, found the verdict devastating, calling for the book to be thrown at the club if they fail on appeal.",
  "summary": "City could be relegated, hit with a points deduction or handed a huge fine.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Al Jazeera",
        "title": "What will happen to Man City after the Premier League’s guilty verdict?",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/what-will-happen-to-man-city-after-the-premier-leagues-guilty-verdict",
        "published": "2026-09-30T11:00:37.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}