Independent Football Regulator Chair Warns of Owner Suitability Powers After Manchester City Guilty Verdict

Name: Independent Football Regulator Chair Warns of Owner Suitability Powers After Manchester City Guilty Verdict
Uploaded: 2026-10-01T17:45:12.788Z
Channel: paz blu
Description: Independent Football Regulator chair David Kogan has warned that the IFR will use its powers to assess the suitability of Manchester City's owners, directors and executives where there is clear evidence of wrongdoing.

Manchester City star Elliot Anderson and others will have questions for the club's board. The independent commission's verdict - which found Manchester City guilty on 114 of the alleged 115 charges across a nine-season period - triggered a formal club statement [https://cityxtra.co.uk/news/manchester-city-respond-to-independent-commission-guilty-verdict-over-premier-league-financial-rule-breaches] declaring the club innocent and pledging to pursue every available appeal avenue. The commission found that Manchester City [https://cityxtra.co.uk/] arranged sham commercial contracts with a number of sponsors across the affected period, under which those companies paid only a fraction of the agreed fees, with the remainder funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd. The cumulative effect of those arrangements was found to have artificially inflated the club's revenues and reduced their costs by more than £900 million, with the Premier League's chief executive Richard Masters [https://cityxtra.co.uk/news/premier-league-publishes-official-statement-on-manchester-city-guilty-verdict] describing the case as the most significant disciplinary decision in English football's history. Moreover, the Independent Football Regulator, which came into force in England earlier this year, holds statutory powers over club ownership and personnel that the Premier League itself does not - including the ability to assess the fitness and propriety of individuals in positions of influence at English football clubs and to act on findings made by other bodies, such as the league's own independent commission. Elsewhere, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who served as Mayor of Greater Manchester for much of the period covered by the charges, said he would be "really concerned to lose" City [https://cityxtra.co.uk/]'s owners, describing them as a significant partner in the development of modern Manchester. Former City manager Pep Guardiola also broke his public silence on the verdict, posting a message of solidarity with the club's staff, ownership and fanbase. Pep Guardiola Breaks Silence After Man City's Guilty Premier League Verdict [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/42ba93a3-2049-4b94-a0b4-7a00aa1fb986.jpeg] Pep Guardiola Breaks Silence After Man City's Guilty Premier League Verdict Former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has issued a statement in response to the club's guilty verdict issued by the top-flight this week. [https://cityxtra.co.uk/news/pep-guardiola-breaks-silence-after-manchester-citys-guilty-premier-league-verdict] KOGAN: WE WILL USE THESE POWERS WHERE APPROPRIATE In a public statement, Independent Football Regulator chair David Kogan said: "The independent commission's decision raises serious issues. The IFR has powers to assess suitability of owners, directors and executives and we will use these powers where appropriate, in the interests of protecting the sustainability, honesty and integrity of English football where there is clear evidence of wrongdoing by individuals. "This includes taking account of findings made by the Leagues. However, as the proceedings remain ongoing between Man City [https://cityxtra.co.uk/] and the Premier League, we will await further developments. We hope it can be resolved quickly for the sake of fans. For now, we have no further comment." On one hand, the scale of the commission's findings and the statutory purpose of the IFR create an expectation that the body will act; on the other, the commission's opinion is not yet final given Manchester City's stated intention to appeal, and any IFR action based on a finding that is subsequently overturned would itself be open to legal challenge. The reference to taking account of findings made by the leagues establishes that the IFR does not need to conduct its own independent investigation from scratch - it can treat the commission's conclusions as a viable foundation for its own assessment - which would, in theory, substantially shorten the timeline for any regulatory action once the appeal is resolved. Manchester City have indicated they intend to file their appeal by 2 October and the IFR's stated position of awaiting further developments suggests the regulator is unlikely to move before that process reaches its conclusion. Enzo Maresca's side return to Premier League action at Anfield against Liverpool [https://roundtable.io/sports/soccer/premier-league/liverpool] in 10 days' time before a home UEFA Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain [https://roundtable.io/sports/soccer/ligue-1/paris-st-germain], with the club's legal and on-pitch battles running in parallel.