Football regulator chair outlines Manchester City sale powers as appeal continues

David Kogan, chair of the Independent Football Regulator, has said the watchdog has the power to require Manchester City's owners to sell the club if it ultimately considers such action appropriate. However, he stressed that any discussion of intervention was premature while City's appeal remains unresolved, according to a Press Association report published by the Guardian.

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Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Kogan described the regulator's ability to remove owners it considers unsuitable. He did not announce an investigation into City or a decision to seek a sale. Instead, he said the regulator would need to wait for the outstanding questions to be answered before deciding whether to open its own inquiry, reach findings and determine any subsequent action.

The comments follow an independent commission's findings that City circumvented Premier League rules through commercial arrangements that inflated revenue or reduced costs by more than £900 million across nine seasons. The commission also found that the club had worked to obstruct the league's investigation, the report said. Those findings are being challenged by City and should not be treated as the conclusion of the appeal process.

City have lodged an appeal arguing that the verdict contains material errors involving law, principle and fact, and that it is unsafe. Kogan's remarks therefore concern powers he says the regulator possesses, rather than a sanction already imposed on the club. He said making a judgment before the relevant questions had been resolved would be a serious mistake, leaving both a possible investigation and its outcome undecided.

City are majority-owned by Abu Dhabi United Group, an investment vehicle belonging to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family. The report also noted that Kogan had previously pledged to resign if political interference affected any investigation the regulator might undertake into City, amid concerns about potential diplomatic implications for Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

Separately, the Financial Reporting Council has begun considering the matter. In a letter to a House of Commons committee, the accounting watchdog said it took up regulatory consideration on September 30 and was reviewing the commission's findings. Its preliminary enquiries are intended to establish whether grounds exist for a formal investigation; the report did not describe a formal investigation as already under way.