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Ex-Everton CEO shares verdict on 'dramatic' Man City punishment - 'it happened to Rangers'
Ex-Everton chief Keith Wyness has insisted rumours of Man City being dropped to the National League for their alleged Financial Fair Play rule breaches are nothing more than “dramatic headlines”.
The 66-year-old, who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs, revealed his fears about the Abu Dhabi-owned club pressuring the UK government into a favourable outcome.
City were charged with 115 breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules earlier this year, and their case has been scheduled to be heard by an independent panel in Autumn 2024.
A verdict is expected to be delivered by the start of the 2025-26 campaign – with rumoured punishments ranging from a financial penalty to expulsion from England’s top four leagues.
Football Insider revealed last week (24 November) that Man City chiefs are supremely confident of defending their 115 outstanding Premier League charges – even after Everton’s bombshell 10-point deduction.
Wyness highlighted Rangers’ fall to the Scottish Third Division in 2012 as proof that City could drop down from the Premier League – but suggested it is a remote prospect.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, he said: “I think it’s a pretty dramatic headline when we see things about Man City being dropped into the National League.
“Obviously, it did happen to Rangers – so it has happened.
“But you worry about things like Abu Dhabi having a word in the UK government’s ear.
“It just goes on and on in terms of the ramifications from any punishment.
“This is why it should’ve been nipped in the bud a while ago.
“Warning shots should have been fired a long time ago, rather than us going down the legal route we are now.”
In other news, Tottenham in “massive” race to sign Man City star.