Sports (Commonwealth Union) _ Manchester City has found itself at the focus of disciplinary action following several delayed kick-offs and restarts during the 2024-2025 Premier League season. The club received a $1.08 million fine for nine instances of time regulation violations. This incident signals the second consecutive season in which Manchester City has faced financial ramifications due to similar violations.
The statement issued by the Premier League specified that the relevant breaches occurred during home games as well as away games, with the noted delays having taken place at games with Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, West Ham United, Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, and Ipswich Town. The West Ham and Ipswich games recorded the longest delays, reaching up to 2 minutes and 22 seconds.
The Premier League requires that fixtures start on time to ensure smooth operations. They also argue that the maintenance of the start and restart times plays a crucial role in broadcasting, with advertising slots relying on punctuality and billions invested in TV rights.
The official statement made by the Premier League specified that “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”.
Led by manager Pep Guardiola, Manchester City accepted the breach, issuing an apology. The club reaffirmed that the importance of adhering to the allocated timelines set by the league has been reemphasized to all of its staff and players, along with their duties. It is noticeable that the penalty faced by the club this year is significantly less than the fine issued during the previous season, when Manchester City was charged $2.09 million for delays in a total of 22 matches. The decrease suggests that the club may be making active efforts to avoid the problematic issue.
Nevertheless, the Premier League maintains a strict stance on the matter. The organisation placed an emphasis on the fact that the half-time intervals and kick-offs remain within the club’s controls, even if unforeseen circumstances could cause delays to the game, particularly due to injuries and other in-game incidents.
Manchester City’s repetitive transgressions also reflect the challenging nature of the club’s performance last season, where, with no major trophies secured, the team’s manager, Guardiola, reportedly required extra time for tactical discussion and boosting the team’s morale in the dressing room – a possible reason for the player’s frequent delayed re-entries onto the pitch.
Even then, a few exceptions to this possible reason could be noted, including one of the first breaches made by the club in October 2024. The incident occurred during a match in Southampton. Despite having an unbeaten record with a significant lead at halftime, the team’s delay of over two minutes in returning to the pitch raised concerns regarding a valid cause for the relevant delay.
Manchester City is also in anticipation of the outcome of a more controversial allegation – 115 charges related to alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP). While the charges are unrelated to the charges of match delay, they are tied to incidents that date from the 2022-2023 season all the way back to 2009. Amid the intensifying scrutiny, the club has vehemently denied the accusations regarding the FFP breach, firmly stating that their defence is backed by “irrefutable evidence”.
Moving forward, the financial penalties hold a risk of damaging the club’s reputation, especially with the Premier League’s stricter enforcement of the rules and the upcoming FFP verdict. With the club having a total of 14 days to settle the Premier League fine of $1.08 million, they are also obliged to enforce internal pre-emptive measures in order to avoid future violations of the same nature.
