As in the previous year, Manchester City has to pay a considerable sum for chronic tardiness.
Premier League club Manchester City faces huge sanctions for financial misconduct – but the amount imposed by the Premier League on Thursday is due to other irregularities.
The league fined City £1.08 million – equivalent to around €1.27 million – for chronic tardiness. According to the league, City was responsible for nine late kickoffs. The worst offender was a 2:24 minute delay in the kick-off of the city derby against United at Old Trafford in December.
13 fewer offences
In a statement, the league justified the sanction as follows: “The rules for kick-off and restart help to ensure that the competition is organized to the highest possible professional standard and provide certainty for fans and participating clubs. They also ensure that all Premier League matches are broadcast as scheduled.”
The club also announced that it had accepted the sanction and apologized. However, coach Pep Guardiola’s team is clearly not very understanding, although there is a positive trend: In the previous season, City, which kicks off the upcoming season on August 16 at Wolverhampton Wanderers, had to pay two million pounds for 22 (!) similar offenses.
The Skyblues are currently competing in the Club World Cup in the US, where Guardiola’s team will face Al-Ain on Monday night (3 a.m. CEST). Manchester won their opening match 2-0 against Moroccan representatives Wydad.
