Manchester City have 'very serious questions to answer'

After being charged by the Premier League in relation to breaching its financial rules, Manchester City are facing profound consequences, according to Sean O'Connell, an expert on the financial issues in sport.

Following a four-year investigation, the Premier League has charged Manchester City with 100 breaches of its financial rules. It also accused the club of not co-operating with its investigation. Manchester City said it was surprised by the charges.

If found guilty by an investigation committee, the club could face a number of penalties ranging from a fine to expulsion from the Premier League.

Speaking on Morning Ireland, O'Connell, who is the Vice Dean of the School of Law at University College Cork, outlined what's at the heart of the investigation when asking whether City had an unfair advantage due to the limitless finances that are available to them.

"Football has certain rules in place to stop owners investing unlimited amounts of money to try and have some semblance of a level playing field," he said.

"There are a lot of suggestions that City have found ways around this through fraudulent means or dishonest means. These are only allegations at this point, however, there are a number of things that come to mind such as sponsors who have very close connections to the owners, suggestions around whether players were paid for in a very transparent manner.

"All of these add up to giving Man City an unfair advantage over rivals who were complying with the rules and regulations."

City have previously vigorously fought and denied charges relating to alleged breaches of UEFA Financial Fair Play rules. They were found guilty by UEFA's club financial control body's adjudicatory chamber of "serious breaches" of FFP rules in