Man City could be forced to sell under Sheikh Mansour if appeal fails, UK regulator chief says

Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour could be forced to sell the club if it loses its appeal against a ruling that it violated Premier League financial regulations, the head of Britain's football regulator has suggested.

David Kogan, chair of the Independent Football Regulator, told the podcast "The Rest Is Football" that the body has the authority to remove an owner found to have run a club improperly. "If we determine that an owner has operated a club in a way that is not fit, not proper and not appropriate, we have the power to require that owner to step away from the club," he said, according to the Guardian and the Independent on Wednesday (local time).

Asked whether an owner could refuse such a divestiture order, Kogan replied: "No, we have absolute power to do that."

However, Kogan drew a line against prejudging the outcome for City. "I'm not going to make a judgment on this until all the questions have been answered," he said. "After that, we will decide whether to conduct our own investigation, what conclusions to reach and what to do. It would be an enormous mistake to prejudge this."

The IFR is a newly established independent body created by the British government to oversee the financial health and governance of football clubs.

Last month, an independent commission found Manchester City guilty on 114 of 115 charges of breaching Premier League financial rules.

The commission determined that City had entered into sham commercial contracts over nine seasons from 2009-10 through 2017-18 to inflate revenues or reduce costs, booking more than 900 million pounds ($1.17 billion) through those arrangements. It also found that the club had made a "systematic effort" to obstruct and impede the Premier League's investigation.

City denied the charges and appealed the commission's ruling this month. A decision on the appeal is expected in early next year.

The Premier League charged Manchester City with 115 counts of financial rule violations in February 2023. The independent commission had been holding closed hearings in London since September 2024.

City rose to become the dominant force in English football after Sheikh Mansour, a member of the UAE royal family, acquired the club in 2008. The club won four consecutive league titles and claimed its first UEFA Champions League trophy in 2023.

There are also concerns in Britain that the case could spill over into a diplomatic dispute between the United Kingdom and the UAE.