Man City sanctioned and fined by Premier League as Pep Guardiola's side sent warning

Manchester City has "entered into a sanction agreement" with the Premier League after admitting to 22 breaches of the league's rulebook over the past two seasons. The Etihad side has incurred a fine of £2.09m ($2.67m).

The violations are related to delayed kick-off and restart times, ranging from one minute to 2.45 minutes. The most significant delay occurred on the final day of the 2023/24 season against West Ham United , where City needed a win to secure the title ahead of Arsenal. Of the 22 incidents, eight were in the 2022/23 season and 14 in the 2023/24 season.

The fines for these breaches vary from £10,000 to £200,000. In the Premier League's written reasons for the punishment, it is stated that Pep Guardiola's side accepted delaying the restart of games 22 times "without good reason".

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City has acknowledged and apologized for the breaches, reminding their players and management teams of their responsibilities regarding timely match restarts. City has also chosen not to comment further.

As reported by the Manchester Evening News , this latest development is unrelated to both the club's outstanding 115 charges for alleged breaches of financial rules. It is also unrelated to the club's legal action against the Premier League concerning Associated Party Transaction rules.

Liverpool.com says: Manchester City and Arsenal will be the teams to beat in the Premier League this season but there is no reason to think that Arne Slot can't compete on that level straight away. A signing or two before the transfer deadline would be hugely beneficial, of course, but Liverpool did as well as those two clubs for most of last season, only falling away at the end.