Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool legend, wants Manchester City to be stripped of their titles after being found guilty of breaching more than 100 charges of financial misconduct. The 46-year-old, who never won a Premier League title in his career, added that an “example” needs to be set so that no other club does something like this in the future.
City were found guilty by the Premier League after an independent commission determined they arranged sham deals to inflate revenues and reduce costs by more than £900 million ($1.2 billion) between 2009 and 2018.
However, the club has officially lodged an appeal against the Premier League’s decision, maintaining their innocence.
Under Gerrard, Liverpool finished as runners-up to City in the 2013-14 season, and the midfielder eventually left the Reds in 2015. When asked what the punishment should be, Gerrard didn’t hold back, saying City should be made to “suffer”.
“In terms of how I feel, I potentially could be affected if you like, I wouldn’t want individual players to give stuff back, that wouldn’t be right,” Gerrard told The Overlap.
“But the club, they have to be stripped.. There needs to be an example set, historically, whether that’s a star throughout all the years of their achievements, because then it doesn’t matter whether the titles are stripped or not, as soon as that star is there, then everyone knows that [success] happened because of what we all know happened,” he added.
However, the former Liverpool player played down the prospect of receiving a retrospective Premier League medal if City are to be stripped of their title for the previous few years. If City’s titles from 2009 to 2018 are taken away, then Liverpool would be awarded one Premier League title for the 2013-14 season.
Manchester United could be rewarded with most, as they finished runners-up in 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2017-18. However, the Premier League’s statement did not mention any sanctions. These are likely to be announced after the City’s appeal is reviewed.
“I’m not someone who’s going to sit here and say I would accept a Premier League medal or I want one that they’ve got. It wouldn’t feel the same, it wouldn’t be the same,” he said.
“I think I’ve come to terms that I’ve never won the Premier League, that I was short in that department in terms of winning it,” he added.
‘Punish them over a period’
The Liverpool great also wants a transfer ban on City, saying the punishment should be in line with the level of offence the club have committed over the years.
“I think it’s more moving forward in the Premier League, to punish them over a period of time, multi-year punishment, that would be my opinion, I’m not saying that’s the right opinion, but that’s just how I feel,” said Gerrard.
“I think it needs to be a transfer ban, a points [deduction] over a period of time and make them suffer like they’ve made everyone suffer over the nine, ten years that they’ve done it,” he added.
