Manchester City are facing a hefty punishment, after they have been found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges the Premier League brought to them, but what could their punishment be?
It’s the biggest story in football right now.
In fact, it may actually be the biggest story to have ever come out of the Premier League.
It is certainly the biggest scandal in Premier League history, and it feels like the shakeout from it is only just beginning.
Of course, I am referring to Manchester City and the Premier League’s findings.
City have had 115 charges hanging over them for some time now, relating to effective financial doping, fraud and refusing to comply with the Premier League.
Of those 115 charges, they have been found guilty of 114 of them and yesterday a Premier League statement revealed just how damning the evidence is.
Having seen what happened to Everton and Nottingham Forest, it seems that, pending a likely lengthy appeal, City are in serious, serious trouble.
But what does this mean to Fulham?
Well, until yesterday, it felt as though the potential punishment was some way off.
But then the Premier League released their statement, and that suggests that, after an investigation that has spanned the best part of eight years and City attempting to fight it with all their might and some seriously expensive legal expertise, punishment may be handed out sooner rather than later.
If that does turn out to be the case, then the ramifications could be ginormous when it comes to this season’s Premier League at both ends of the table.
City are currently sitting on 15 points and are top of the Premier League table, so any sort of points deduction would take them away from a title charge.
But, depending on just how severe the punishment could be, it could also have a huge sway on relegation.
Everton were handed an initial 10-point deduction and Nottingham Forest one of four points in the 2023-24 season.
And if we consider that with City, they could be looking at a deduction of something we have never seen before.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has placed an estimate of around 40-60 points, assuming City were found guilty of the most serious offences.
Well, that is very much the case now, and that sort of calculation would surely put City in a hugely precarious position to stay in the top flight.
It would need them needing to potentially reach 100 points just to hit the magic 40-point survival mark.
Fulham, of course, right now find themselves scrapping down the bottom end of the table with two points in their first five matches.
Should City receive a heavy deduction, it could see one of the relegation slots be effectively taken by then and free one of the teams struggling - that could of course be excellent news for Fulham.
So, the Cottagers will be one of a few teams down that end of the table who will be hopeful the punishment is enforced this season and that the end result is City being relegated.
