Premier League champions, Manchester City have been fined more than £2million by the Premier League for delaying kick-off to matches.
The champions reached a sanction agreement with the league over 22 separate charges, all related to the past two seasons.
City were adjudged to have delayed the kick-off to the second half of their final game of last term against West Ham, by two minutes and 46 seconds on the day they clinched a fourth consecutive title.
The fines range from £10,000 to £200,000, the lowest for the first offence and the highest as a result of the West Ham fixture.
18 of the incidents relate to restarts after the break, with delaying that and kick off for one match against Newcastle United last August.
City accepted the Premier League’s decision, which was ratified by a three-person independent panel.
‘The breaches relate to a number of Premier League matches during the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons,’ a Premier League statement said.
‘Rules relating to kick-offs and re-starts 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.’
Pep Guardiola’s side were found to have delayed restarts by 39 minutes and 52 seconds in total in 23 late kick-offs across 22 games in the last two seasons.
The longest was the game against West Ham in which they secured their title win, with the second half of that fixture delayed.
Other heavy delays included kick-off against Everton in December 2022 being delayed by two minutes and 33 seconds, and the home game against Newcastle in August 2023 starting two minutes and 34 seconds late.
That game was also delayed in the second half by one minute and 17 seconds, meaning delayed were caused 23 times over 22 occasions.
The agreement confirmed that ‘the club has apologised for the accepted breaches set out in paragraph 3, above, and confirmed that it has reminded the Club’s players and football management teams of their responsibilities in complying with Rule L.33.’
Payment is to be made within 14 days of the execution of this Sanction Agreement.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
