Manchester City punished by Premier League for breaking unusual rule 22 times

Manchester City have been fined just over £2m by the Premier League for breaching kick-off and re-start rules 22 times over the last two seasons.

Man City accepted the fine and apologised to the Premier League while reminding their players and management of their responsibilities.

Rule L.33 says clubs will be disciplined if they ’cause delays to either the kick-off of a match or the re-start after the half-time interval’ unless they have ‘good reason’.

Manchester City were found to have been guilty of such offences 22 times over the last two seasons, with the longest delay coming at the start of the final game of the 2023-24 campaign when the match began two minutes and 46 seconds late.

In total, Man City – who remain under investigation into 115 charges for alleged breaches of financial regulations – delayed restarts by 39 minutes and 52 seconds.

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.

'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.

Source : metro.co.uk