The Independent Football Regulator will have "absolute power" to force Manchester City's owners to sell the club if they are ultimately found to have run it improperly, the watchdog's chair has said.
City have been found guilty of circumventing Premier League rules by an independent commission, which found they set up "sham" commercial arrangements to inflate revenues or reduce costs by over £900 million ($1.2 billion) over a nine-season period. The commission also found they made "concerted efforts" to "stop and frustrate" the Premier League's investigation into those arrangements.
David Kogan, the chair of the IFR, told "The Rest Is Football" podcast it was premature to discuss any action his organisation might take, with City having lodged an appeal against the original verdict. However, he confirmed the IFR had the power to force a sale by the club's owner, Sheikh Mansour, if that was felt to be appropriate. "We have the power to ask an owner to step away from a club if we believe that they run a club in a way that is neither fit, fair or done with propriety," Kogan said. Asked whether an owner could refuse to divest, he replied: "No, no, no. We've got absolute power to do so."
On the possibility of the IFR investigating City, Kogan said he would not be pushed into any judgement until all questions had been answered, adding that pre-empting that process would be a "colossal mistake." Kogan has already pledged to resign if there is any political interference in any investigation the IFR may undertake into City, amid concerns it could become a diplomatic issue between the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
Source: ESPN Soccer · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing