Casino sites such as https://www.bestaucasinosites.com/casino-games/ saw a rise in traffic this week, of customers looking to bet against Manchester City winning the league. This came in the wake of the announcement that City have breached over 100 rules associated with Financial Fair Play.
To most of the footballing world, this came as no shock. What was more shocking was the fact that these results were announced, and not swept under the carpet. Now that it has been announced, we can expect punishment. This is why so many ran from their digital roulette tables and machines à sous en ligne, to place a bet at the sportsbook. The Premier League has never faced this kind of issue before, so how should City be punished?
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Financial Punishment
Many people think that a great way to punish City is to smack them with a hefty fine, to the tune of tens of millions. This sounds good on paper but the reality is that this is what City want. The owners of the club are dripping in cash and they can certainly stomach a big cash fine, which will likely be offset for now anyway. Money just won’t cut the mustard here.
Docked Points
The most likely punishment that we will see, and probably the one that will sting the most, is to dock City points. This will probably be between 6 and 12 points, in either case, they can kiss the league title goodbye. If this is the case, and City do receive a points deduction, it has to take place this season and not the next. Starting a season with negative points arouses more impetus and desire from players, and is slightly easier to overcome from a mental standpoint. Doing so midway through a season means that there are fewer possible points to help make up the lost points, and it will greatly damage the player’s psyche. This is what a correct punishment looks like.
Relegation
As much as watching a supremely wealthy club, backed by a petro-state, fall to the league below would be entertaining, it probably doesn’t set a good enough example. In reality, all you will do is damage the chances of teams below, coming up to the Premier League. Should this happen City will spend their way out of it, destroy the Championship, and be back within a season.
Stripping of Titles
Docking points will only go so far as a punishment, but there has to be more. If we are saying that there is evidence that Manchester City have doped themselves financially to win leagues, then those titles must go. We shouldn’t give titles to those who finished 2nd that year, however, as there are just too many hypothetical scenarios that it throws up. We should most certainly scratch City’s names off the bottom of the Premier League trophy, take the winning money back and those winners’ medals.
It is players and fans who lose out most from this, which is a punishment that neither probably deserves.
