Manchester City urged to admit financial breaches and accept punishment by Gary Lineker

Manchester City should admit their Premier League financial rule breaches and accept their punishment, according to former England captain Gary Lineker, who added he would not be surprised if the club are ultimately stripped of their titles. The club were found guilty of breaching league financial regulations across nine seasons (from 2009/10 to 2017/18), as well as three of four charges for failing to cooperate with the investigation.

The Premier League stated that City used "sham" commercial contracts to artificially inflate revenues and deflate costs by more than £900 million ($1.19 billion) over a near-decade period that yielded numerous trophies. Manchester City are appealing the decision and insist on their innocence. Lineker, the former Everton, Tottenham, and Barcelona striker, argued that the scandal harms both the club and English football as a whole, suggesting an admission of guilt would help put an end to the saga.

"Obviously, it looks very bad for Manchester City, really bad. It's bad for football... I'd love City to just hold their hands up and say, 'Okay, we got this wrong,'" Lineker said at the Leaders Week conference at Stamford Bridge. "'For the sake of the game, we accept this, take whatever punishment comes, and move on.' I think that would be healthy and save some face right now, though it doesn't seem very likely. It is doing damage... and I feel for the fans and the players."

Asked if City should be stripped of the three Premier League titles won during the period in question, Lineker replied: "I wouldn't be surprised if it comes to that. But in the end, who suffers? The players and the fans." The appeal proceedings will be held behind closed doors. It remains unclear whether penalties will be announced ahead of the appeal hearing and whether they will take immediate effect. Manchester City currently lead the Premier League table with 15 points from five matches and travel to Liverpool on Sunday seeking a sixth consecutive win.