Explained: Man City’s appeal process and how they could be relegated or expelled from Premier League

Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of Premier League financial rules and the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the league's investigation by an independent commission.

Reacting to this seismic news, the Premier League CEO, Richard Masters, has said that the findings show that Man City "systematically broke Premier League rules for nearly a decade."

The Citizens have consistently denied any wrongdoing and said in their most recent statement that they were "disappointed and surprised" by the ruling.

City have also made clear that it would appeal the verdict – the deadline to submit this is on Friday – and have insisted that the club will be "relentless" in its fight to clear their name.

However, multiple reports have suggested that it will be highly unlikely for Man City’s appeal to be successful, and a wide range of severe sanctions remain on the table.

While significant fines, transfer bans and even stripping titles have been suggested, the possibility of points deductions, relegation and expulsion are also believed to be something that the independent commission will consider.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at Man City’s appeal process and how the club could face relegation or expulsion from the Premier League if the unprecedented 114 charges are upheld.

Man City’s appeal process: How does it work?

Man City have until Friday, October 2 to submit their appeal which they have publicly stated they intend to do.

Under section W of the Premier League rules, Man City’s appeal would be heard by a new three-person independent commission.

No new evidence can be put forward by either City or the Premier League; the new three-person panel will essentially assess whether the previous panel have made any errors of law, misinterpreted the rules, or acted with gross unfairness.

The decision made by the new three-person independent commission will be final.

While this case could then be sent to the High Court, Man City cannot appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) who famously overturned their UEFA punishment in 2020. This is because the Premier League is a private, domestic competition that does not use CAS for its financial rule dispute.

As things stand, there is no timeframe for when this will be completed, though it is thought that the Premier League and many of the other 19 clubs would prefer for this to be concluded this season.

On top of all this, several clubs could take legal action against Man City seeking compensation; the timeframe and number of clubs prepared to take this form of action is currently unknown.

How could Man City be relegated?

Man City cannot be officially ‘relegated’ or demoted to a lower league by the Premier League because the English Football League (EFL) is a separate footballing body.

The only way they can drop down into the Championship is if they are given a significant enough points deduction that would result in relegation.

Given the severity of Man City’s guilty verdict, an unprecedented sporting sanction in the region of 50 to 80 points has been mooted.

For historical context, the biggest points deduction in Premier League history is the nine points handed to Portsmouth in March 2010 after the club entered administration.

Everton, meanwhile, were initially hit with a larger 10-point penalty in November 2023 for breaching Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR), but that punishment was reduced to six points on appeal.

The largest points deduction in English football history was given out in 2008 when Luton Town were hit with a massive 30-point penalty for breaking EFL rules after leaving administration without having made a Company Voluntary Arrangement with its creditors. This ultimately forced their relegation from League Two to non-league.

How could Man City be expelled from Premier League?

Expulsion is a completely different beast to relegation; it would immediately strip Man City of their Premier League membership and the club would not be in any division.

However, this would need to be ratified by a vote of the remaining 19 Premier League clubs, with a 75% majority required (15 votes). City cannot be expelled if they receive 14 votes or fewer.

If they were expelled, City would then have to approach the Football Association cap-in-hand to apply for entry into the lower levels of the English football pyramid.

Sorting out this chaotic reintegration would hand a massive headache to both the FA and the EFL, as deciding where a club of City's stature should resume playing is highly complex and political.

Should City be sanctioned with expulsion this season, the Premier League would also face a difficult dilemma regarding whether to completely erase all of the club’s match results for 2026-27.

Expulsion would also leave the Premier League with 19 clubs and would presumably result in only two of those teams suffering relegation rather than the traditional three.

How could Man City enter the EFL?

Under the current EFL laws, any new member who joins must enter at League Two - the fourth tier of English football.

However, because the EFL is a collective governed by its own clubs, any special arrangement to place Man City into a higher tier (either the Championship or League One) would need to be ratified by a vote of the member clubs.

Resolving this would require a simple majority vote across all 72 member clubs – the big question is whether any EFL clubs would be in favour of seeing a club as powerful as City enter their division or the EFL in general.

The 72-club vote system was previously used when the Championship playoffs were expanded from four to six teams last season – a EFL majority plus a Championship majority was required for this vote to pass.