Manchester City have been fined just over £2m by the Premier League for breaching rules relating to kick-off and re-starts after half-time of matches.
There were 22 separate breaches over the last two seasons, with eight coming during the 2022/23 campaign and 14 last season.
City have apologised for the breaches and have agreed to pay the £2.09m fine to the Premier League.
The club have also confirmed that it has reminded the players and the football management teams of their responsibilities.
Games that led to Man City’s fine…
- vs Crystal Palace (H) – August 27, 2022 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute 18 seconds)
- vs Brighton (H) – October 22, 2022 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute 19 seconds)
- vs Leeds (A) – December 28, 2022 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute and 34 seconds)
- vs Everton (H) – December 31, 2022 (Length of delay to kick-off: 2 minutes and 33 seconds)
- vs Leicester (H) – April 15, 2023 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute and 29 seconds)
- vs Everton (A) – May 14, 2023 (Length of delay to restart: 2 minutes and 15 second)
- vs Chelsea (H) – May 21, 2023 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minuute and 26 seconds)
- vs Brighton (A) – May 24, 2023 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute and 17 seconds)
- vs Burnley (A) – August 11, 2023 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute and 32 seconds)
- vs Newcastle (H) – August 19, 2023 (Length of delay to kick-off and restart: 2 minutes and 34 seconds and 1 minute and 17 seconds)
- vs Brighton (H) – October 21, 2023 (Length of delay to kick-off: 2 minutes and 35 seconds):
- vs Aston Villa (A) – December 6, 2023 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute and 34 seconds)
- vs Crystal Palace (H) – December 16, 2023 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute and 19 seconds)
- vs Sheffield United (H) – December 30, 2023 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute and 26 seconds)
- vs Newcastle (A) – January 13, 2024 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute and 46 seconds)
- vs Chelsea (H) – February 17, 2024 (Length of delay to kick-off: 1 minute and 55 seconds)
- vs Aston Villa (H) – April 3, 2024 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute and 40 seconds)
- vs Crystal Palace (A) – April 6, 2024 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute and 43 seconds)
- vs Brighton (A) – April 25, 2024 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute and 45 seconds)
- vs Nottingham Forest (A) – April 28, 2024 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute and 22 seconds)
- vs Tottenham (A) – May 14, 2024 (Length of delay to restart: 1 minute and 27 seconds)
- vs West Ham (H) – May 19, 2024 (Length of delay to kick-off: 2 minutes and 46 seconds)
The issue is unconnected to the 115 charges City are facing for alleged breaches of 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 accepted it had breached Premier League Rule L.33 relating to kick-off and re-start obligations.
“The breaches relate 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 good reason causes to be delayed either the kick-off of a League
Match from the time fixed or the re-start after the half-time interval shall be dealt with
under the provisions of Section W (Disciplinary) of these Rules.
“Rules relating to kick-offs and re-starts help ensure the organisation of the competition is set at the highest possible professional standard and provides certainty to fans and participating clubs.
“It also ensures the broadcast of all 380 League matches around the world is kept to schedule.
“As required by the Premier League Rules, the sanction agreement has been ratified by three members of the Independent Judicial Panel.”
City have been punished on a sliding scale for each offence.
They were found to have delayed restarts by 39 mins and 52 seconds in total in 23 late kick-offs across 22 games in the last two seasons.
Their first, a delay of one minute and 18 seconds to the start of the second half against Crystal Palace in August 2022, incurred a warning.
Fines ranging from £10,000 to £200,000 have then been imposed for each subsequent breach. The longest delay was two minutes and 46 seconds for the start of the final game of the season against West Ham last season, when City clinched a fourth successive title.
More to follow…
