Manchester City have been fined just over £2m by the Premier League; City have breached rules relating to kick-off and re-starts after half-time of matches 22 times over the last two seasons; City have apologised for the breaches and have agreed to pay the fine to the Premier League
Thursday 1 August 2024 06:11, UK
Manchester City have been fined just over £2m by the Premier League for breaching rules relating to kick-off and re-starts after half-time of matches.
There were 22 separate breaches over the last two seasons, with eight coming during the 2022/23 campaign and 14 last season.
City have apologised for the breaches and have agreed to pay the £2.09m fine to the Premier League.
The club have also confirmed that it has reminded the players and the football management teams of their responsibilities.
The issue is unconnected to the 115 charges City are facing for alleged breaches of the competition's financial regulations.
A statement from the Premier League read: "The Premier League and Manchester City FC have entered into a sanction agreement after the club accepted it had breached Premier League Rule L.33 relating to kick-off and re-start obligations.
"The breaches relate to a number of Premier League matches during the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons.
"Rules relating to kick-offs and re-starts help ensure the organisation of the competition is set at the highest possible professional standard and provides certainty to fans and participating clubs.
"It also ensures the broadcast of all 380 League matches around the world is kept to schedule.
"As required by the Premier League Rules, the sanction agreement has been ratified by three members of the Independent Judicial Panel."
City have been punished on a sliding scale for each offence.
They were found to have delayed restarts by 39 mins and 52 seconds in total in 23 late kick-offs across 22 games in the last two seasons.
Their first, a delay of one minute and 18 seconds to the start of the second half against Crystal Palace in August 2022, incurred a warning.
Fines ranging from £10,000 to £200,000 have then been imposed for each subsequent breach. The longest delay was two minutes and 46 seconds for the start of the final game of the season against West Ham last season, when City clinched a fourth successive title.
Man City are still under investigation by the Premier League for the charges they were hit with for alleged financial irregularities.
The Premier League charged City with 115 alleged breaches of its financial rules in February 2023 following a four-year investigation.
According to the Premier League, Man City allegedly broke the rules over nine seasons between 2009 and 2018, during which time they won the league title three times.
City allegedly did not provide accurate financial information and did not fully disclose the financial remunerations that were made to one of their managers over a four-year period.
The Premier League also alleges Man City did not comply with UEFA's financial fair play rules over a five-year period. They also allege Man City have not fully co-operated with the Premier League's investigation.
City unequivocally deny the allegations.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said in January a date had been set for City's hearing over the alleged breaches, with The Times reporting it is set for November.
