Liverpool iconic former captain Steven Gerrard has insisted that mandatory relegation would be a lenient sentence for Manchester City following their guilty verdict across 115 Financial Fair Play (FFP) charges, urging Premier League authorities to impose multi-year point deductions and transfer bans instead.
Speaking on The Overlap Daily, the 46-year-old former England midfielder expressed strong views regarding the sanctioning of Manchester City for financial irregularities spanning between 2009 and 2018. Gerrard, who captained Liverpool to a second-place finish behind City in the dramatic 2013-14 season, argued that dropping City down to the Championship would not represent fair justice, as their financial strength would guarantee immediate re-promotion while depriving another Championship team of an EPL spot.
Instead, Gerrard advocated keeping Manchester City in the top flight while crippling them with severe, multi-season penalties: "They should suffer, just like they made others suffer for those nine or ten years. Keep them in the Premier League and penalize them over several years with point deductions and extended transfer bans to set an undeniable precedent." Addressing potential title stripping, Gerrard noted that while he has accepted never winning an EPL trophy, retroactive titles cannot restore stolen memories for players and fans robbed during that era.
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Reported by Sports Desk • Edited by the Daily Best News desk. Send corrections to [email protected].
