Pain in the Arsenal
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Man City could be handed points deduction for FFP breaches

By James Cormack

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 27: The Manchester City and Arsenal badge are seen at the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match at the Etihad Stadium on January 27, 2023 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 27: The Manchester City and Arsenal badge are seen at the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match at the Etihad Stadium on January 27, 2023 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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Well, well, well. Suddenly, the doom and gloom of Goodison Park has dissipated. The clouds have opened up, and sunshine is beaming upon the Emirates turf once more.

In the blink of an eye, everything is coming up Milhouse!

After the Gunners fell to a miserable 1-0 defeat at Everton on Saturday, fears of allowing Manchester City back into the title race were rife. The margin was five points as City travelled to Tottenham, but five it would stay following Harry Kane’s record-breaking goal in N17.

Never before has a Kane strike felt so sweet.

Pep Guardiola’s side were once again disappointing in defeat, barely laying a glove on the dogged hosts. However, their woes might worsen as a result of some (a lot of) financial misdoings.

Man City could be handed points deduction for FFP breaches

The Times’ Martyn Ziegler was one of many to break the news of Man City’s FFP breaches on Monday morning.

Ziegler described the Premier League’s charges as ‘unprecedented’ with City supposedly accumulating over 100 breaches between 2009/10 and 2017/18. The charges surround player and manager contracts, the remuneration declared in their financial accounts and failure to cooperate with the four-year-long investigation.

A statement from the Premier League read (via The Guardian): “The proceedings before the Commission will, in accordance with Premier League Rule W.82, be confidential and heard in private. Under Premier League Rule W.82.2, the Commission’s final award will be published on the Premier League’s website.

“This confirmation is made in accordance with Premier League Rule W.82.1. The Premier League will be making no further comment in respect of this matter until further notice.”

This is serious stuff and severe punishment is possible, one that could aid Arsenal’s title charge greatly. A points deduction isn’t off the table, while there have been reports of a possible expulsion from the Premier League. The latter scenario is unlikely, but even a minor points deduction would be a massive boost for the Gunners.

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