Gerrard Calls for Manchester City to Lose Titles Over Financial Breaches
(MENAFN) Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has urged authorities to revoke Manchester City’s titles and impose several years of disciplinary measures over alleged financial rule violations, suggesting sanctions such as a transfer ban and points deductions.
Speaking on a football podcast on Monday, Gerrard said the club should face substantial penalties but maintained that individual footballers should not be forced to surrender the medals they earned.
"In terms of how I feel, I potentially could be affected if you like, I wouldn't want individual players to give stuff back, that wouldn't be right," he said.
"But the club, they have to be stripped ... There needs to be an example set," he added.
Gerrard also rejected the idea of demoting Manchester City to the Championship, arguing that such a punishment would disadvantage other teams in the second tier that are competing for promotion to the Premier League.
"I don't think its fair on the Championship if they go down, because they will be one of the three teams that come up, so that takes a slot away from the Championship so it's not fair on the EFL," he said.
Instead, he advocated a transfer ban combined with points deductions imposed over an extended period, saying the club should experience serious consequences for its conduct.
"I think it needs to be a transfer ban, a points [deduction] over a period of time and make them suffer like they've made everyone suffer over the nine, 10 years that they've done it," he added.
An independent Premier League commission previously found Manchester City guilty of major financial rule violations spanning the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons. Among the findings was that the club had arranged "sham" contracts with commercial partners to artificially increase its reported revenue.
Speaking on a football podcast on Monday, Gerrard said the club should face substantial penalties but maintained that individual footballers should not be forced to surrender the medals they earned.
"In terms of how I feel, I potentially could be affected if you like, I wouldn't want individual players to give stuff back, that wouldn't be right," he said.
"But the club, they have to be stripped ... There needs to be an example set," he added.
Gerrard also rejected the idea of demoting Manchester City to the Championship, arguing that such a punishment would disadvantage other teams in the second tier that are competing for promotion to the Premier League.
"I don't think its fair on the Championship if they go down, because they will be one of the three teams that come up, so that takes a slot away from the Championship so it's not fair on the EFL," he said.
Instead, he advocated a transfer ban combined with points deductions imposed over an extended period, saying the club should experience serious consequences for its conduct.
"I think it needs to be a transfer ban, a points [deduction] over a period of time and make them suffer like they've made everyone suffer over the nine, 10 years that they've done it," he added.
An independent Premier League commission previously found Manchester City guilty of major financial rule violations spanning the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons. Among the findings was that the club had arranged "sham" contracts with commercial partners to artificially increase its reported revenue.
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