9月29日，据24直播网报道，曼城在面临115项指控中，有114项被证实有效。在探讨俱乐部可能遭遇的惩罚及潜在赔偿金额时，The Athletic的财经专家Chris Weatherspoon对曼城在违规期间所获得的收益进行了初步估算。

针对指控，曼彻斯特城队在2009-2010年至2017-2018年间未能提交精确的财务报告，在此期间，他们成功赢得了三座英超联赛冠军奖杯。进一步的指控指出，在2018-2019至2022-2023赛季的英超联赛调查阶段，曼城未能予以充分合作，而在这一时期，他们又赢得了四个冠军头衔。紧接着，他们在2024年再度夺冠。这家在过去十五年内共赢得八座英超冠军的俱乐部现在面临着自家联赛提出的多项指控，这些指控若被证实，将对曼城、英超以及整个足球领域产生极为重大的影响。

众多英超球队纷纷采取措施，筹划提出索赔要求。其中，一些球队正考虑联合起来，发起一项集体法律行动。目前，有关数十亿英镑赔偿金的讨论正逐渐增强其法律可行性。尽管如此，考虑到曼城违规行为的严重性及其过去巨额投入引发的连锁效应，对这些损失的精确估算显得异常困难。目前，尚无明确信息表明哪些俱乐部有资格对曼城追究责任。然而，有一点可以确认，阿森纳、曼联、利物浦和热刺均已按照相关规定，保留了提出索赔的权益。

Over the past nine years, Manchester City has topped the list of English football clubs in salary expenditures for eight of those years. Since the Abu Dhabi group took control, the club has poured substantial funds into its youth academy, which has now become a steady source of talent. The high-value transfers of these graduates have generated substantial profits, which have been recycled back into the first team, perpetuating a cycle of wealth. The financial gains from player transfers are only matched by those at Chelsea. Moreover, the club's massive commercial contracts with affiliated entities have allowed it to maintain a costly, top-tier squad, a practice that has been widely criticized for years.

在剔除“不配合调查”相关指控的时间段后，即从2009-10赛季到2017-18赛季，曼城凭借英超和欧足联的奖励，累积了10.94亿英镑的奖金，这一数字在英格兰俱乐部中位列第三，仅落后于切尔西（11.27亿英镑）和曼联（11.05亿英镑）。然而，若将“不配合调查”指控的时段也纳入考量，曼城无疑成为当之无愧的奖金收入之王。自2008年俱乐部被收购至今，曼城在所有赛事中获得的奖金总额已超过30亿英镑。

在2009至2018年间的九个赛季里，曼城在英超联赛中仅通过“排名奖金”一项便累积收入达1.99亿英镑，这一数字超过了排名第二的切尔西1300万英镑。自俱乐部易主以来，英超单赛季的排名奖金金额经历了显著增长，从2009-10赛季的72.5万英镑飙升至2017-18赛季的193万英镑，并在上一赛季攀升至376万英镑。以阿森纳为例，他们在上一赛季仅排名奖金一项便获得了7500万英镑。自2009-10赛季起（2019-20赛季因疫情未公布具体分配数据），英超联赛已向42家俱乐部发放了总计61.21亿英镑的排名奖金。其中，曼城独占鳌头，揽获5.596亿英镑，占总发放金额的9%，领先于排名第二的阿森纳近5000万英镑。

财富往往伴随着成就的丰收，而成就的丰收又进一步催生了财富的积累。在英超联赛中，俱乐部的电视转播收入与它们每赛季的电视转播次数紧密相连。曼城在成绩上的显著进步无疑增加了他们在转播中的曝光度。在2009年至2018年间的9个赛季中，他们共获得了高达1.7亿英镑的电视转播收入，这一数字仅次于曼联的1.8亿英镑和利物浦的1.75亿英镑。然而，长期违规行为所带来的严重后果，并不仅限于冠军头衔的易主。

Since the 2011-12 campaign, Manchester City has been a regular participant in the UEFA Champions League, with their advancement inevitably leading to others being excluded. This perspective highlights Tottenham Hotspur as the most affected, having narrowly missed the tournament four times during this span. As a result, Tottenham secured a cumulative income of 28.8 million euros from the Europa League, whereas City's Champions League earnings during the same period reached a staggering 141 million euros. Additionally, two other teams missed out on the Champions League qualification—Manchester United in the 2016-17 season and Chelsea in the 2018-19 season. Despite Chelsea's triumph in the Europa League, their UEFA rewards were notably lower compared to City's during the respective seasons.

Over the course of the eight seasons from 2011-12 to 2018-19, when Manchester City faced accusations of failing to provide accurate financial data to secure UEFA Champions League qualification, clubs that narrowly missed out on the tournament collectively earned €147 million in UEFA bonuses. In contrast, the English giants amassed €358 million, a figure that does not account for the potential loss of ticket and commercial revenues. The UEFA bonus distribution system, heavily favoring clubs with a history of reaching the Champions League, has bestowed substantial "compound interest" benefits on those consistently qualifying for the competition. According to TA's calculations, prior to the start of this season's Champions League, Manchester City had already secured more than €52 million in bonuses, placing them ahead of only three other teams across Europe.

那些在争夺联赛冠军或欧洲赛事资格的激烈竞争中遭受打击的球队并非唯一受害者。以斯托克城和桑德兰为例，它们在2011年和2014年的足总杯和联赛杯决赛中不敌曼城，这又作何解释？球员薪资的争议是否会对他们产生连锁反应？一种极端的解决方案可能是将他们从历史档案中抹去，取消他们在那个时期参与的所有赛事。不考虑这种做法将使英超联赛缩减至19支球队的事实，仅以2011年为例，布莱克浦本有可能避免降级，而最终降级的却是狼队。特别是考虑到布莱克浦的老板在球队仅征战英超一个赛季后便从俱乐部撤资2700万英镑，自那以后，球队再未重返顶级联赛，如今只能在英甲中挣扎求生。

Throughout the nine seasons from 2009 to 2018, had Manchester City not participated in the Premier League, it would have been revealed that 42 other clubs could have secured a higher ranking bonus. During the 2010-11 campaign, Bolton could have climbed three positions, thereby increasing their ranking bonus by 2.3 million pounds, boosting their total earnings by 4%. Naturally, the earnings of some other teams would have been correspondingly diminished. Extending this "no Manchester City" hypothesis to the present, it would be Tottenham Hotspur that was relegated last season, not West Ham United. Thus, it is not as straightforward as simply removing a team from a completed season and assuming that everything else would proceed as it would have.

广泛蔓延的违规行为使得局势愈发荒诞不经。无论一项运动的基础多么坚实，一旦其公信力遭受损害或被任意践踏，追踪其连锁效应便变得异常棘手。在这起事件中，曼城及其管理层至少在某种程度上，未能履行对这项运动应尽的责任。以2017年巴萨与梅西签订的四年合约为例，这笔交易使得巴萨为一位球员的薪资投入超过了50亿欧元。梅西无疑是足球史上最杰出的球员之一，然而，即使是对于他来说，如此高昂的薪酬也显得异常不合理，它直接导致了巴萨陷入严重的财务困境，至今仍在努力走出泥潭。

在探讨巴萨面临的财务困境时，虽然高薪球员的薪酬问题不容忽视，但若非那个夏天梅西与曼城的转会传闻闹得沸沸扬扬，巴塞罗那可能不会觉得非得采取如此激进的薪资策略。尽管曼城的前任主教练瓜迪奥拉后来声明未曾企图引进梅西，但关于这笔转会的传闻并非毫无根据。实际上，是曼城的强大财力为这笔交易提供了可能，而这正是曼城如今因违规操作而受到制裁的根源。设想如果没有曼城的干预，梅西或许能够以更低的薪酬与巴萨续约，其他球员亦是如此。这样一来，巴萨的薪资总额就不会出现不合理的膨胀，也就不会陷入透支未来以追赶如曼城等顶级俱乐部实力的困境。

然而，这些全然是建立在猜测之上的设想，并非对历史可能性的唯一解读。在这样一个“曼城未曾违规”的平行时空，无数的可能性得以展开。设想一下，如果莱斯特城在2021年不是以微弱劣势错失欧冠资格，那么他们或许不会遭受巨额的经济损失，也不会如今降至英格兰甲级联赛。同样，维拉或许能够在四年之后成功晋级欧冠，而不必在今年夏天为了满足财政公平政策而被迫出售核心球员。