BBC Sport profiled five Premier League board figures who are set to play a key role in recommending a punishment in Manchester City's financial rules case. Manchester City were found guilty of breaching financial rules by an independent commission in September, but a three-person commission panel will ultimately decide on a sanction.
The board's role in the case
The Premier League board comprises the league's chair, chief executive, and three independent non-executive directors, with no club representatives included. Among various roles and responsibilities, the board is the entity responsible for prosecuting breaches of Premier League rules. The five board figures identified are Alison Brittain, Richard Masters, Mai Fyfield, Dharmash Mistry and Matthew Ryder.
The Premier League board has the responsibility of recommending a punishment in Manchester City's case, and the Premier League's submission will be considered along with City's view. Manchester City maintain their innocence and have appealed. It is not known when a sanction hearing will take place, nor what sanction the Premier League will want.
Possible sanctions and uncertainty
A fine, points deduction, expulsion or the stripping of past titles are all described as possible sanctions. BBC Sport said the Manchester City case is unique in its scale, and that it is uncertain how relevant previous cases are when looking at the kind of sanctions the Premier League has recommended.
Previous sanction arguments
In 2023, the Premier League argued for a 12-point sanction for Everton after the club breached financial rules, and a commission settled on a 10-point punishment instead, which was reduced to six points on appeal. In 2024, the Premier League suggested Nottingham Forest should be docked eight points over a larger PSR overspend, and the commission settled on a four-point punishment.
This year the Premier League argued that an appropriate sanction for Leicester City, for an overspend in 2023-24, was a 12-point deduction to be applied in the Championship. The independent commission instead recommended that a six-point deduction be imposed by the EFL on Leicester City. Earlier this year the Premier League board reached a 'sanctions agreement' with Chelsea which resulted in a £10m fine and suspended transfer ban after admitting making £47m in secret payments to unregistered agents and third parties over transfers between 2011 and 2018.
Comments from board figures and the league
When the independent commission's 'core decision' on City was announced in September, Richard Masters said it "vindicates the Premier League's decision to pursue this case". He also said it was "a key responsibility… to ensure that the rules, approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition".
He added that it was "paramount that the league remains competitive and fair for all clubs and for the fans. We take that role extremely seriously." Masters also said: "There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches. Now we have the commission's decision, we are committed to moving swiftly through the remainder of the process, to provide certainty for the league, our clubs and fans."
Speaking at a university alumni event in September, Alison Brittain said: "They actually spent some time talking to me and saying 'we aren't looking for a super fan. In fact we're looking for the exact opposite - somebody who will bring a different mindset. A business mindset, governance standards, be able to reset us a little bit into a different way'…and so I then went through the process and ended up in the job."
BBC Sport said the Premier League declined to comment after it approached the board members via the league. On the Chelsea case, the league said: "When considering the appropriate sanction, the board noted that the club's proactive self-reporting, admissions of breach and exceptional co-operation throughout the investigation acted as significant mitigating factors."
