LaLiga president Javier Tebas says Manchester City 'punishment should ⁠be severe'

[p]On Monday, a soccer source confirmed media reports that an independent panel had found [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-city/Wtn9Stg0/"]City[/a] guilty ‌of all but one of 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial rules.[/p][p]City, who have always denied any wrongdoing, could ‌face sanctions ranging from fines and a points deduction to relegation.[/p][p]"[b]I've been raising concerns about ‌Manchester City for many years. I did so in 2017 at Soccerex. I said it then; neither City ‌nor the Premier League at the time liked it[/b]," Tebas said.[/p][p]Speaking to reporters between sessions ‌of the Peak Performance & Health Summit, co-hosted in London by global players' union FIFPRO and The Cleveland Clinic, Tebas said the case had implications far beyond English football.[/p][p]"Now it has been shown that there was ongoing non-compliance dating back to ‌2009," he said.[/p][p]"[b]We're trying to make football sustainable and clean across ⁠all competitions. As many clubs are saying, titles ‌were lost that shouldn't have been lost to other clubs. What has happened is very important, and we hope ​it marks a turning point, not just for the Premier League[/b].[/p][p]"[b]The Manchester City case has implications across Europe, particularly regarding financial doping. There should be a punishment that sets ​an example[/b]."[/p][p]Tebas said the length of time over which the rules had allegedly been broken warranted a tough response.[/p][embed guid="6e1d6740-c981-409b-a309-d94a411f5760" url="https://x.com/David_Ornstein/status/2103480016915009611" social-type="twitter" /][p]"Breaking them for more than 10 years ... is very serious," he said. "[b]The punishment should therefore ⁠be severe, not only to set ​an example, but because the rules were broken[/b]."[/p][p]Premier League clubs are seeking legal advice about compensation, according to British media reports.[/p][p]Tebas was asked whether teams from other European leagues might follow suit.[/p][p]"They could, but not specifically because of City," Tebas said.[/p][p]European soccer's governing body UEFA banned City from the Champions League for ‌two years in 2020 after finding the club had overstated sponsorship revenue between 2012 and 2016.[/p][p]City, however, successfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which overturned the ban.[/p][p]"In my opinion, the decisions by the Court of Arbitration for Sport should be reviewed," Tebas said. "[b]It overturned the sanction UEFA had imposed, and that decision was very questionable. Now it has been shown that UEFA was right about the sanctions against Manchester City[/b]."[/p][p]Maheta Molango, the chief executive officer of the Professional Footballers' Association in England, said the prolonged nature of the case undermined confidence in football's regulatory system.[/p][p]"Our concern is the impact on the broader ecosystem and trust in the rules and trust in institutions," Molango said.[/p][p]"[b]If ‌there's one lesson to be learned, it is that we need to have rules, those rules need ​to be abided by and there needs to be a consequence. But the consequence needs ‌to be immediate[/b]."[/p][p]Molango lamented the fact that players are caught up in the uncertainty.[/p][p]"The City case is a case that is being reviewed. We all hoped it would be concluded yesterday or the day before, but that's not the case," he said. "[b]There are human beings behind all those stories, and people trying to achieve certain things in their careers[/b].[/p][p]"[b]What we owe everyone ⁠in this industry is certainty, whatever that certainty ⁠actually means. It's a question of knowing ‌what the rules are and making sure that we uphold the rules[/b]."[/p]