A report has outlined the minimum expected punishment Manchester City are facing if losing their appeal, and it’s also claimed clarity should arrive long before the current season ends.

Man City have been found guilty of breaching FFP on 114 separate occasions. The club maintain their innocence and have appealed the guilty verdict, claiming they possess a body of ‘irrefutable evidence’ that will swing an appeal in their favour.

For the time being, football in England is in limbo, though according to the latest from Football Insider, the final outcome should arrive before the current campaign concludes.

They stated: ‘Manchester City are expected to learn the outcome of their appeal against the 114 breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules in February or March.’

If the appeal succeeds, City will face no punishment. If it fails, there remains a chance City lodge further appeals.

However, there is now a very real prospect that this sorry saga comes to a definitive ending early in 2027.

Regarding punishments, everything ranging from fines, transfer bans, points deductions, expulsion from the Premier League, stripping of titles and removal of the ownership are in play.

Man City FFP: Hefty points deduction the bare minimum punishment

But per FI, the bare minimum Man City can expect if their appeal fails is a significant points deduction.

The report added: ‘Should Man City be unable to fight off all or most of the Premier League’s charges, a hefty points deduction will be the minimum expected outcome.

‘A precedent has already been set in the cases of Everton and Nottingham Forest, who both breached the financial rules.

‘The Toffees were ultimately slapped with a six-point deduction on appeal for losing £20million more than they were permitted to over a three-year period, while Nottingham Forest were docked four points for a similar breach.

‘In comparison, Man City were found to have overstated their own profits by over £830m – a number that will almost certainly warrant a far large deduction.’

Man City will struggle to win their appeal

Leading sports lawyer James Severn has told BBC Sport that there are “substantial hurdles” for Man City to have a successful appeal.

He said: “The bank statements, government records and contemporaneous payment documents could be powerful evidence if they establish a clear audit trail showing the disputed funds came from the Abu Dhabi government rather than the owners.

“However, if that evidence was already before the Commission, which nevertheless concluded that the arrangements were a sham, City will face an uphill struggle to demonstrate the finding was materially wrong.”

Severn added: “If City can demonstrate the Commission fundamentally misunderstood the emails, failed to consider their proper context or reached conclusions inconsistent with other contemporaneous documents, that could amount to a material factual error.

“City’s difficulty is that the Commission heard extensive witness and documentary evidence but nevertheless made serious findings of sham arrangements and disguised owner funding.”