'Come on...' - Tottenham's chances of being handed Premier League title revealed by expert
Manchester City should retain their Premier League titles despite being found guilty of serious breaches of the financial rules.
That is the opinion of experienced former Tottenham, Everton and Aston Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
In an official verdict on Tuesday, the Citizens were found guilty of 114 charges that include systematically concealing their finances and failing to co-operate with the investigations into them.
Man City will appeal the decision but now find themselves at the mercy of a sanction hearing, which is expected to decide their fate in the coming weeks.
Points deductions and fines appear to be the most likely outcome, with the eight-time Premier League champions even potentially facing expulsion from the top flight.
Fans and former managers have called on Man City to be stripped of all titles won following the financial breaches, and it remains to be seen whether the Premier League pursue such action.
'They all played Man City twice in the league'
Even if Man City are to be stripped of their titles, it appears unlikely that the trophies would be subsequently handed to the runners up.
The likelier scenario would see sides compensated financially for the money they missed out on by failing to win each competition.
"You see the thing from Tottenham: 'It might still give me a Premier League medal.' Come on here," King told Football Insider.
"You think back to all the games that have been played. All these teams that are complaining. They played Manchester City twice in the league.
"Those two games aren't going to alter their position drastically in the league so much that they can claim that they could have had more money from the Premier League for finishing higher or lower or whatever.
"Clubs who got relegated get a parachute payment anyway. Clubs who come up get a big payment. All this rhetoric about losing championships, doing this, doing that - deduct the points if they're going to do it."
Calciopoli case set precedent
In 2006, Calciopoli emerged in Italy - a match-fixing scandal that rocked the Serie A and involved several teams.
Juventus were deemed the main culprits and were relegated to Serie B, as well as being stripped of two of their league titles - 2004-05 and 2005-06.
Inter Milan were awarded the 2005-06 Serie A title when Juventus dropped to 20th place in the standings, with the scandal having emerged at the end of the season.
The previous league title was ruled to have had no winner despite AC Milan finishing second. Should Man City be stripped of their titles, similar action will likely take place.