Manchester City owners could be forced to sell club, regulator says

The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has the power to require Manchester City’s owners to give up control of the club if it concludes that the organisation is being run without sufficient competence, fairness or integrity.

IFR chairman David Coogan said the authority could take action that goes beyond sporting or financial penalties, although he stressed that no decision would be made before the club’s appeal against an initial ruling has been resolved.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Coogan said the regulator’s powers included ordering Manchester City’s owners to step away from the club if its standards were not being met.

“We have the power to ask the owners to leave the club if we think they are running it in a way that is not competent, fair or honest,” he said.

Asked whether the owners could refuse to comply, Coogan replied: “No, no, no. We have absolute authority to do that.”

He also said the IFR could decide to begin its own investigation into Manchester City’s conduct. However, Coogan insisted it would be premature to reach any conclusions while the existing legal process remained ongoing.

“I will not allow myself to be pressured into taking any position on this matter before we have answers to all of those questions,” he said.

“After that, we will have to decide whether to open an investigation of our own, reach a conclusion and determine what action we will take. To anticipate those steps would be a grave mistake.”

The comments come after an independent commission recently found that Manchester City had breached Premier League regulations over a period of nine seasons.

According to the commission’s findings, the club used purportedly artificial commercial arrangements that inflated revenue or reduced costs by more than £900m.

The commission also concluded that Manchester City had made concerted efforts to obstruct the Premier League’s investigation into those commercial arrangements.

Those findings leave the club facing the possibility of unprecedented sanctions, although the next stage of the case will depend on the outcome of Manchester City’s formal appeal.

The club has challenged the initial ruling, and the process is still ongoing. The regulator’s position means that any consideration of further action, including a possible investigation into the ownership and management of Manchester City, will wait until the relevant questions have been answered.

Coogan’s remarks therefore widen the potential consequences of the case beyond penalties imposed on the pitch or through the club’s finances. But he made clear that the IFR has not yet decided whether it will open a separate investigation or what measures it might ultimately pursue.