Man City FFP: Ex-Citizens chairman ‘worried’ amid ‘relegation’ claim as rivals ‘propose alternative penalty’

Former Man City chairman David Bernstein admits he’s “worried” about the future of the Citizens as they face “serious charges”.

The Premier League champions are facing 115 charges that they broke the competition’s rules following a four-year investigation into their finances.

A long-awaited hearing into the allegations that could last up to 10 weeks and began on Monday, with Man City potentially facing a hefty points deduction or even expulsion from the league if found guilty.

Guardiola claimed last week that he has no doubt Man City’s rivals are hoping the club are punished for breaching financial regulations.

Javier Tebas, the president of Spain’s LaLiga and a longtime outspoken critic of Abu Dhabi-owned City’s financial model, has claimed a number of Premier League clubs want to see sanctions imposed .

Man City manager Guardiola, who rarely sees eye to eye with Tebas, feels his fellow Spaniard could be right on this point but, with the club denying any wrongdoing, he has urged them all to be patient and await the outcome.

He said: “Maybe he’s right. For the fact that the Premier League teams want us to be sanctioned, that is for sure.

“I agree with Tebas for the first time, and hopefully the last. I am pretty sure I agree with that.

“I know what people are looking for, I know what they are expecting – I know it because I have read it for many years – but I’ve said everyone is innocent until guilt is proven.

“That’s why I say to Mr Tebas and the Premier League teams wait for the independent panel.

“Justice is there in modern democratic countries, so wait for the decision. It’s not much more complicated than that.

“We believe that we have not done anything wrong, so we go to an independent panel and we are going to wait.”

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And now Bernstein, who was Man City chairman between 1998 and 2003, admits he is “worried” as he believes the Premier League champions are defending themselves over “really heavy stuff”.

Bernstein told Sky Sports : “I am not surprised it has got to this stage.

“There are 115 charges, they cover a wide period of time, and on the surface they are serious charges and have to be answered. In a way, they should have got this resolved somewhat earlier but these things do take time.”

Bernstein added: “I am a City fan, as well as being an ex-chairman, and I am worried. On the surface they look to be serious charges. City will have the best lawyers, they will defend themselves as they absolutely have the right to do and we will see, this is really heavy stuff.

“What is great is that the club has come from where it was – it was a club that was underperforming for many years – to become arguably the greatest performing club of all-time with four Premier League [titles] in a row.

“To have the possibility of that being tarnished is really sad, but we will see what happens. We may find that they are not guilty of these things.”

Financial expert Stefan Borson insists Man City will struggle to adhere to profit and sustainability rules if they face relegation from the Premier League.

Borson told Football Insider : “I suspect there’s no PSR issue in the near term. Clearly, that would change if they were unsuccessful in the 115 situation.

“If they were, let’s say relegated then clearly that’s going to change everything. But if that doesn’t happen then I think they’ve got a lot of capacity on PSR.”

An ‘alternative’ punishment for Man City was ‘proposed’ recently by the Premier League champions’ rivals, according to the Daily Telegraph .

The newspaper claimed: ‘One alternative proposed by a senior figure in the game would be for points deductions to be applied across multiple seasons to severely impact their ability to challenge for honours.’