In French football, the memory of 1993 still carries a particular weight. Manchester City now face the prospect of a similarly exceptional punishment after being found guilty of 114 of 115 alleged breaches of Premier League financial and regulatory rules, with the possible removal of titles among the sanctions under discussion.
Key takeaways
- Manchester City have been found guilty of 114 charges relating to a period from 2009 to 2018.
- The club can appeal, but sanctions could range from a fine and points deduction to relegation or the loss of honours.
- Four Premier League titles won during the relevant years could be affected: 2011-12, 2013-14, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
- Football has stripped championships from clubs before, usually after corruption or match-manipulation cases.
- Marseille’s 1992-93 French title was removed in the aftermath of the VA-OM affair, and no replacement champion was named.
A rare route to removing a champion
The allegations against City concern inaccurate or incomplete financial information, certain payments and compliance with financial profitability rules between 2009 and 2018. Although an appeal remains available, the prospect of titles being taken away has placed the case in a category usually associated with the game’s biggest disciplinary scandals.
One early example came in Italy in 1927. Torino had celebrated what appeared to be the first Scudetto in their history after the 1926-27 campaign, only for the title to be annulled following the Allemandi case.
The investigation centred on Torino official Guido Nani, who was alleged to have offered tens of thousands of lire to Juventus defender Luigi Allemandi before a derby on 5 June 1927. Torino won that match 2-1. Journalist Renato Ferminelli later brought the affair to public attention in the Roman weekly Il Tifone.
On 3 November 1927, the Italian federation removed Torino’s championship and imposed a lifetime ban on Allemandi. The player continued to maintain his innocence and his ban was lifted months later. Bologna, runners-up that season, were not awarded the Scudetto, leaving the championship without a winner.
China provided another illustration of retrospective action. Shanghai Shenhua’s 2003 league success stood for almost a decade before a wide-ranging inquiry into bribery and manipulated fixtures reached the club.
The 2011 investigation found that club official Lou Shifang had paid a combined 700,000 yuan to Zhang Jianqiang, an official responsible for refereeing within the Chinese Football Association, and referee Lu Jun before a 4-1 victory over Shanghai COSCO. On 18 February 2013, Shanghai Shenhua were stripped of the title and fined one million yuan.
Shanghai International, the second-placed side, did not inherit the trophy because several of their players were also convicted as part of the scandal. The 2003 championship therefore remains officially vacant.
Marseille’s warning and Italy’s Calciopoli upheaval
For Ligue 1, the closest and most painful reference remains the VA-OM case. Valenciennes revealed an alleged Marseille corruption attempt on 22 May 1993, two days after OM had beaten them 1-0 and only days before Marseille’s European Cup final against AC Milan.
Jean-Jacques Eydelie and Jean-Pierre Bernès were accused of offering money to Valenciennes players so they would ease off in the match and, above all, avoid injuries before the European final. An envelope holding 250,000 francs was subsequently found in the garden of Christophe Robert’s parents.
Bernès acknowledged at trial in 1995 that there had been an attempted corruption operation carried out “on the orders” of Bernard Tapie. Sporting consequences had already arrived: on 22 September 1993, the French Football Federation withdrew Marseille’s 1992-93 league championship.
Marseille were also barred from European competition and eventually sent down to the second division. Paris Saint-Germain, who finished second, did not accept the title, taking the view that it had not been won on the pitch. France’s 1992-93 championship consequently has no officially designated winner.
Italy’s Calciopoli affair in 2006 brought an even broader reckoning. Telephone intercepts published by Italian newspapers implicated Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi in contacts with refereeing officials. Juventus lost the 2004-05 and 2005-06 Scudetti and were relegated to Serie B.
Fiorentina, Lazio and AC Milan were also punished over their officials’ attempts to influence refereeing structures and the federation. Fiorentina and Lazio initially faced relegation but remained in Serie A after appeals, starting with deductions of 19 and 11 points respectively. Milan received an eight-point penalty.
The 2004-05 Italian title was left unassigned, while Inter were later declared champions for 2005-06. Those cases show how far a disciplinary process can reach when authorities decide that a championship’s integrity has been compromised.
