Manchester City have been fined £1.08m by the Premier League for delaying kick-off on nine separate occasions during the 2024/25 campaign.
In a Premier League statement, the division confirmed: “The Premier League and Manchester City FC have entered into a sanction agreement after the club accepted it had breached Premier League Rule L.33 in relation to kick-off and restart obligations.” The sanction agreement released on the Premier League website sets out the occasions when the rules were breached.
During October 2024, they delayed the restart against Southampton by two minutes and ten seconds. In November, they delayed kick-off by one minute and 38 seconds against Tottenham Hotspur.
Moving to December, City broke the rules during four matches. Against Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa they delayed the restart by one minute and 59 seconds, one minute and 29 seconds and two minutes and nine seconds respectively.
Meanwhile, against Manchester United, they delayed both the kick-off and restart by one minute and 18 seconds and two minutes and 24 seconds respectively. The rules breaches also occurred in January during the clashes against West Ham United and Ipswich Town where the restart was delayed by one minute and 42 seconds and two minutes and 22 seconds, respectively.
The final breach was in February when the restart against Newcastle was delayed by one minute and 42 seconds. The culmulative punishment for all these breaches is a fine of £1.08m which has been paid by City.
Explaining why the penalties are so strict for delays to kick-offs and restarts, the Premier League added: “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. It also ensures the broadcast of every Premier League match is kept to schedule.”
The fine comes as Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs and the remainder of the Premier League wait to hear if City will be found guilty of 115 historic breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. These alleged breaches relate to the manner in which key staff were paid between 2009 and 2018, and are separate to these breaches that were revealed on Thursday.
Throughout the FFP saga, City have always maintained their innocence. The hearing into the alleged breaches was concluded in December and all parties are currently awaiting the independent panel’s findings.
