Manchester City guilty of financial violations: the British press calls for very harsh sanctions

"Going down?", asks the Sun: "Are we going down?". The relegation hypothesis has already hit the headlines in the British press after the verdict that found Manchester City guilty of all the charges relating to financial violations and most of those relating to non-cooperation.

The i Paper talks about the "114 guilty verdicts that have shocked football", while the Daily Star goes further: "Ban City", "ban City". The Guardian headlines "Premier League in turmoil", in chaos, while the Times highlights the £900 million in inflated revenues and reduced costs. The Daily Telegraph instead raises the possibility that City could be expelled from the Premier League.

And one of the harshest comments comes right from the Times. In an editorial, Manchester City is defined as "the biggest cheat in the history of English football", arguing that, in light of the commission's conclusions, consequences must also be assessed for the current ownership.

Ferran Soriano responded to the crossfire of the media. City's CEO released a three-minute video to club staff, reiterating the company's innocence and announcing an appeal.

“The Premier League's entire case against us is based on a single false accusation,” he said, referring to the owner's alleged infusion of personal money into the club through Abu Dhabi sponsors. According to Soriano, City provided "irrefutable evidence" — bank statements, bank transfers and testimonies — to prove that the money did not come from the owner. The club therefore considers the verdict to be tainted by "clear material, legal, principle and factual errors" and has until Friday to appeal.

Meanwhile, the wait is growing to find out the sanctions, which will be the subject of a separate proceeding. They range from fines to point deductions, up to relegation or expulsion from the Premier League. And in the British media there are already those who are openly calling for this last solution.