Manchester City faces an uncertain future after the decorated English soccer club was found guilty of systematically breaking the Premier League’s financial rules for nearly a decade.

The verdict — delivered by an independent disciplinary commission — leaves open a range of sanctions, including a fine, points deduction or even expulsion from the Premier League.

City could also face possible compensation claims from rival teams.

The club, owned by the Abu Dhabi-controlled City Football Group, has rejected the verdict and pledged a relentless campaign to clear its name.

Here is a preview of what lies ahead in one of the most significant scandals in English soccer history:

Manchester City is entitled to appeal the verdict and has maintained that it will do so.

“The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions,” Manchester City said in a statement.

“The Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums.”

To lodge its appeal, City would need to email the chair of the independent commission’s three-person panel, who would then appoint a new appeal board — also consisting of three people, one of whom “shall have held judicial office,” according to the Premier League handbook.

The board will then schedule a hearing that is expected to conclude within 12 weeks of the appeal being filed and must not last more than five consecutive days.

The City's punishment is to be addressed in a separate, confidential hearing with the independent commission.

The Premier League's statement did not say whether sanctions could be imposed before the appeal's decision was reached, only that the league intended the process to be concluded "as soon as possible."

According to the Premier League, the independent commission could issue a reprimand, fine, suspension, points deduction or, in the worst case, expel the club from the competition.

Clubs have been expelled from lower leagues in England but never from the Premier League.

A club expelled from the Premier League would be eligible to apply for membership in the English Football League, the body overseeing the three divisions beneath the Premier League: the Championship, League One and League Two.

According to the EFL’s regulations, it “could be asked to accommodate any former Premier League Club(s) in League Two.”

The largest points deduction given to a Premier League team was 10 points to Everton in 2023, for overspending within a single three-year financial period.

That deduction was later cut to six after an appeal.

City's breaches, by contrast, are far more extensive and included a refusal to cooperate, which was not the case with Everton.

Separately, the Independent Football Regulator — a body set up by the British government last year to establish governance standards in English soccer — could intervene in the City case.

The newly established regulator operates independently of English soccer authorities and possesses the authority to remove club owners should they be deemed unsuitable.

“The independent commission’s decision gives rise to serious concerns,” IFR chairman David Kogan said on Wednesday.

“The IFR is empowered to assess the suitability of owners, directors and executives, and we will exercise these powers where appropriate, in the interests of protecting the sustainability, honesty and integrity of English football where there is clear evidence of wrongdoing by individuals,” he said.

Kogan stated that the IFR was awaiting further developments in the ongoing proceedings between City and the Premier League.

The Manchester City case constitutes a disciplinary proceeding rather than a criminal investigation.

Nevertheless, some have posited that British authorities ought likewise to examine the matter.

"If the accounts have been falsified and the auditors have consequently been misled, then it is potentially a criminal matter," Lord Cruddas, a Conservative peer, told the BBC.

"The auditors will call in the police; directors are personally liable for any fraud of a UK company even if it is foreign-owned."

Under the Fraud Act of 2006, individuals can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison if they are found to have dishonestly made a false representation with the intention of making a gain or avoiding a loss.

No reports have surfaced indicating that any criminal investigation has been initiated in the case.

No club has publicly announced that it intends to seek compensation for the impact of City's rule-breaking.

However, the BBC has reported that, before the verdict was announced, a number of clubs had begun seeking advice on whether they might have grounds for financial compensation.

A precedent was set this year when Everton was ordered to pay more than 35 million pounds ($47 million) in compensation to Burnley, which had successfully argued to a disciplinary commission that it would have survived relegation — at Everton's expense — in the 2021-22 campaign if its rival had been given its six-point penalty for that season's financial breaches.

In City’s case, top teams could argue they lost out on titles or Champions League qualification — worth tens of millions of dollars each season — because of City’s conduct, while weaker teams could claim that defeats to City’s expensively assembled squads contributed to relegation or lower finishing positions in the league standings, and thus to reduced prize money.

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