Manchester City have been fined £2.09million by the Premier League for 22 instances of delaying the kick-off or restart of matches.
The champions have accepted the sanction, which relates to rule infringements over the past two seasons, the league has confirmed.
The issue is unconnected to the 115 charges City are facing for alleged breaches of the competition’s financial regulations.
A statement from the Premier League read: “The Premier League and Manchester City FC have entered into a sanction agreement after the club accepted it had breached Premier League Rule L.33 relating to kick-off and restart obligations.”
City have been punished on a sliding scale for each offence.
Their first, a delay of one minute and 18 seconds to the start of the second half against Crystal Palace in August 2022, incurred a warning.
Fines ranging from £10,000 to £200,000 have then been imposed for each subsequent breach. The longest delay was two minutes and 46 seconds for the start of the final game of the season against West Ham last season, when City clinched a fourth successive title.
The statement added: “Rules relating to kick-offs and restarts help ensure the organisation of the competition is set at the highest possible professional standard and provides certainty to fans and participating clubs.
“It also ensures the broadcast of all 380 League matches around the world is kept to schedule.”
City have not commented directly but the ruling stated: “The club has apologised for the accepted breaches… and confirmed that it has reminded the club’s players and football management teams of their responsibilities in complying with Rule L.33.”
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The club will be hoping it’s the only breaches they will be found guilty of this season as they wait to hear the verdict after their legal battle with the Premier League over Associated Party Transactions (APT) rules.
If successful would give City great hope of avoiding significant sanctions for their alleged 115 breaches of FFP.
The City vs Premier League APT was heard last month, but details on the potential verdict are yet to be announced.
However, a report points out that ‘in a new twist, the APT rules have been published unchanged in the top-flight handbook for the 2024-25 campaign on 25 July’.
This is said to see the Premier League ‘drop a new hint’ on the APT case resolution before the FFP case ‘gets underway in the autumn’.
In response, finance expert Keith Wyness – who was previously the CEO at Everton and Aston Villa – has revealed “gut feeling” on Man City’s APT situation.
“Like everyone else, I was keen to see the handbook come out – I used to get it religiously every year,” Wyness said in an interview with Football Insider.
“I still look at it in detail every year. That may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I still find it interesting.
“But the intriguing thing about the Associated Party Transactions rules is that there has been no change. That is likely to mean that a decision simply hasn’t been reached.
“If the Premier League has won this case, then that could also explain the lack of change in rules.
“There may also be an agreement to keep the decision confidential until the other Man City case is heard later this year.
“There are all sorts of exciting conspiracy theories, but my gut feeling is that a decision just hasn’t quite been reached yet.”