Football Regulator Chief Says He’d Resign Over Political Interference in Man City Case
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Independent Football Regulator chairman David Kogan said he would resign if he faced political pressure over Manchester City’s financial rule-breach case, telling BBC Sport “independence absolutely runs through everything we’re doing” and that “no politician has tried to influence and would try to influence anything we do.” The IFR has power to assess the suitability of club owners and executives and could force a sale if an independent commission’s guilty finding against City is upheld; the comments follow criticism of Prime Minister Andy Burnham for saying he would be “really concerned” if City’s Abu Dhabi owners sold up, with the government releasing details of Burnham’s past meetings with club figures on Monday.
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca defended his side’s celebrations after Sunday’s 3-0 win at Liverpool — City’s first match since being found guilty of breaching financial rules — asking reporters “criticised for what?” and insisting the players were focused only on winning games. Captain Ruben Dias backed Maresca’s stance, saying “we are very calm and we trust the club,” while Pep Guardiola is expected to return to the Etihad Stadium for Wednesday’s Champions League visit of Paris St-Germain, his first match back since stepping down after a decade in charge.
Transfer and squad notes
Tottenham’s Richarlison, a 60 million pound signing from Everton, has been reduced to playing for the club’s Under-21s, scoring in an EFL Trophy shootout defeat to Cheltenham Town, after manager Roberto De Zerbi left him out of the 25-man Premier League squad following a collapsed deadline-day move back to Everton and a separate failed switch to Vasco da Gama, BBC Sport reported. Spurs are the Premier League’s lowest scorers this season with three goals and sit second-bottom of the table, making the continued absence of last season’s 12-goal top scorer increasingly hard to justify.
What it means for the league
Kogan’s resignation warning raises the stakes around the Man City case well beyond football, turning it into a test of whether the Independent Football Regulator can operate free of political pressure during its first major case. Maresca’s defiant response to the Anfield celebrations, backed publicly by Dias, suggests City’s dressing room intends to treat the guilty verdict as background noise rather than a distraction, with Guardiola’s expected return adding further symbolism to Wednesday’s Champions League game. Richarlison’s situation at Tottenham highlights how a club in the relegation zone can still afford to exile a recent top scorer, underlining deeper issues in De Zerbi’s squad planning beyond results alone.