Manchester City have been fined just over £2m by the Premier League for breaching rules relating to kick-offs and restarts after half-time.
There have been 22 separate offenses over the last two seasons, with eight occurring during the 2022/23 campaign and 14 last season.
City apologized for the offense and agreed to pay a £2.09m fine to the Premier League.
The club has also confirmed that it has reminded the players and the football management team of their responsibilities.
The game that led to Man City’s fine…
- vs Crystal Palace (H) – 27 August 2022 (Length of restart delay: 1 minute 18 seconds)
- vs Brighton (H) – 22 October 2022 (Has restart delay: 1 minute 19 seconds)
- vs Leeds (A) – 28 December 2022 (Has restart delay: 1 minute 34 seconds)
- vs Everton (H) – 31 December 2022 (Length of delay for kick-off: 2 minutes and 33 seconds)
- vs Leicester (H) – 15 April 2023 (Length of restart delay: 1 minute and 29 seconds)
- vs Everton (A) – 14 May 2023 (Length of restart delay: 2 minutes and 15 seconds)
- vs Chelsea (H) – 21 May 2023 (Duration of restart delay: 1 minute and 26 seconds)
- vs Brighton (A) – 24 May 2023 (Has restart delay: 1 minute and 17 seconds)
- vs Burnley (A) – 11 August 2023 (Length of restart delay: 1 minute and 32 seconds)
- vs Newcastle (H) – 19 August 2023 (Long delay for kick-off and restart: 2 minutes 34 seconds and 1 minute and 17 seconds)
- vs Brighton (H) – 21 October 2023 (Has a delay for kick-off: 2 minutes 35 seconds):
- vs Aston Villa (A) – 6 December 2023 (Length of restart delay: 1 minute and 34 seconds)
- vs Crystal Palace (H) – 16 December 2023 (Length of restart delay: 1 minute and 19 seconds)
- vs Sheffield United (H) – 30 December 2023 (Length of restart delay: 1 minute and 26 seconds)
- vs Newcastle (A) – 13 January 2024 (Length delay for restart: 1 minute and 46 seconds)
- vs Chelsea (H) – 17 February 2024 (Length of delay for kick-off: 1 minute and 55 seconds)
- vs Aston Villa (H) – 3 April 2024 (Length of restart delay: 1 minute and 40 seconds)
- vs Crystal Palace (A) – 6 April 2024 (Has restart delay: 1 minute 43 seconds)
- vs Brighton (A) – 25 April 2024 (Has a restart delay: 1 minute and 45 seconds)
- vs Nottingham Forest (A) – 28 April 2024 (Length of restart delay: 1 minute and 22 seconds)
- vs Tottenham (A) – 14 May 2024 (Length of restart delay: 1 minute and 27 seconds)
- vs West Ham (H) – 19 May 2024 (Length of kick-off delay: 2 minutes 46 seconds)
The issue is unrelated to the 115 charges City face for allegedly breaching the competition’s financial regulations.
A statement from the Premier League read: “The Premier League and Manchester City FC have entered into a sanction agreement after the club admitted to breaching Premier League Rule L.33 relating to kick-off and restart obligations.
“The offense relates to a number of Premier League matches during the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons.
What is Rule L.33?
Rule L.33 states:
Any club which without reasonable cause delays the kick-off of a League Match from the appointed time or restarts it after the half-time interval will be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of Section W (Discipline) of these Rules. .
“The rules relating to kick-offs and restarts help ensure the organization of competitions is set at the highest professional standards and provide certainty for fans and participating clubs.
“This also ensures that the broadcast of all 380 League matches around the world remains on schedule.
“As required by Premier League Rules, the sanction agreement has been ratified by three members of the Independent Judicial Panel.”
City has been punished on a sliding scale for each offense.
He was found to have missed kickoffs a total of 39 minutes and 52 seconds on the last 23 kickoffs in 22 games over the last two seasons.
The first, a delay of one minute and 18 seconds at the start of the second half against Crystal Palace in August 2022, was booked.
Fines ranging from £10,000 to £200,000 are then imposed for each subsequent offence. The longest delay was two minutes and 46 seconds for the start of the last game of the season against West Ham last season, when City won their fourth title in a row.
More to follow…
