Football Regulator Can Force Manchester City Owners to Sell

Manchester City's ownership could face a forced sale if an independent football regulator concludes that the club has been improperly managed, according to Independent Football Regulator (IFR) chair David Kogan. He said the regulator has the authority to require owners to relinquish control, but will not decide whether to investigate City until the club's appeal against Premier League charges has concluded.

An independent commission found that Manchester City circumvented Premier League rules through commercial arrangements that allegedly inflated revenues or reduced costs by more than £900 million over nine seasons. The commission also found that the club made concerted efforts to obstruct the league's investigation into those arrangements.

Manchester City has appealed the findings, arguing that the verdict contains significant errors of law, principle and fact and should not stand. The appeal remains a key factor in determining whether the IFR will consider launching a separate investigation.

Speaking on the podcast The Rest Is Football, Kogan said the regulator could intervene if an owner's conduct failed to meet the required standards of proper club management.

"We have the power to ask an owner to step away from a club if we believe that they run a club in a way that is neither fit, fair or done with propriety," Kogan said.

Asked whether an owner could refuse to give up control, Kogan emphasized the regulator's authority.

"No, no, no. We've got absolute power to do so," Kogan said.

Kogan also cautioned against making judgments about a possible investigation before the appeal process has addressed the outstanding issues. He said the IFR would assess the circumstances before deciding whether further action was justified.

"I am not going to get pushed into making any judgement on this until we've seen all of those questions being answered. Then we will have to decide whether we're going to mount our own investigation and come to a conclusion on that and what we're going to do. And pre-empting that would be a colossal mistake," Kogan said.

Manchester City is majority-owned by Abu Dhabi United Group (Adug), an investment vehicle belonging to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family. Kogan has previously pledged to resign if political interference affects any IFR investigation into the club, amid concerns about potential diplomatic tensions between the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.

The case has also drawn scrutiny from the UK's accounting regulator. In a letter to the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Trade Committee, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) confirmed that it assumed regulatory consideration of the matter on September 30.

The FRC said it was reviewing the independent commission's findings and conducting preliminary inquiries to determine whether there were grounds for a formal investigation.