Gerrard called for Manchester City to be punished with points deduction for several seasons

Former Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard has proposed tough sanctions against Manchester City for violating the financial rules of the English Premier League (Premier League). He shared his opinion on The Overlap show.

According to Gerrard, the club's exclusion from the top division and its transfer to the Championship would be an unfair decision. The former Liverpool captain explained that in this case, Manchester City would quickly return to the Premier League, taking the place of another team, and the clubs in the second-strongest league would have to play against a much stronger opponent every week.

Gerrard believes that the punishment should be effective within the Premier League for several years. Among the possible measures, he called a ban on the registration of new players and the regular withdrawal of points.

"They need to suffer the way they have been making others suffer for nine or ten years," Steven Gerrard stressed.

At the same time, he added that he expresses only his personal feelings and does not claim that the measures proposed by him are the only correct ones.

Gerrard's statements came amid ongoing proceedings in the case of 115 violations of financial rules by Manchester City. According to The Guardian, the independent commission's hearings began on September 16, 2024 at the International Dispute Resolution Center (IDRC) in London. The accusations against the club are unprecedented and cover a long period — from the 2009/10 season to 2017/18.

According to the data provided by Sportbible, the list of claims includes 54 cases of failure to provide accurate financial information and 35 episodes related to the club's refusal to cooperate with the investigation. The hearings in this case ended in early December 2024. It is expected that the verdict of the commission will be made before the end of the 2024/25 season, while the decision may be announced as early as March.

Gerrard's proposal for the points deduction draws on recent precedents in English football. In the 2023/24 season, the Premier League has already applied similar sanctions to other participants in the tournament. As the Transfermarkt portal reminds, Everton was stripped of 10 points for violating the rules of profitability and sustainable development (PSR), although later, as a result of an appeal, the punishment was commuted to six points. Similar measures were taken against Nottingham Forest, which was stripped of points for exceeding the loss limit set at £61 million.

Manchester City has previously faced serious accusations from the football authorities. In 2020, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) suspended the club from participating in European competitions for violating the rules of financial fair play (FFP). However, according to The Guardian, the "citizens" successfully challenged this decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which overturned the disqualification.