Gary Lineker has urged Manchester City to “accept whatever punishment“ is imposed on them for the good of football after the club was found guilty of more than 100 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules.
An independent commission reported last week that over nine seasons – between 2009 and 2018 – City made “fictitious“ has made deals with a number of its trading partners to artificially inflate revenues and reduce its costs.
The 10-time English champions, who continue to deny wrongdoing, confirmed they have appealed the decision.
No punishment has yet been handed down, but City could face a significant points deduction, a fine or even expulsion from the Premier League.
“Obviously this looks very bad for Manchester City and for football in general“, said former England captain Lineker during Leaders Week London 2026, held at Chelsea's “Stamford Bridge“ stadium.
“When they talk about “conspiracy theories“ in the Premier League, you think: “This is actually the last thing in the world that the Premier League would want. So I would like Manchester City to just take responsibility now and say: "Okay, we made a mistake, but for the good of football we will accept that and whatever punishment we get and move on." That would go some way to saving their reputation at the moment, although it doesn't seem likely," Lineker said.
Asked if City should be stripped of the three English titles they won during the period covered by the offences, Lineker, 65, said: "I wouldn't be surprised if it comes to that. But who will suffer from it? The players and the fans."