Manchester City fined £1m for delayed kickoffs, restarts

Manchester City have been fined more than £1 million ($1.3m) by the Premier League for breaching the rules around delayed kickoffs and restarts nine times last season, England’s top-flight league said on Thursday.

The fine comes a year after City paid £2m ($2.56m) to the league for breaching the same game-delay rules.

The club accepted and apologised for the rule breaches, and confirmed they have reminded their players and staff of their responsibilities in complying with the rules.

“Rules relating to kick-offs and re-starts help ensure the organisation of the competition is set at the highest possible professional standard and provides certainty to fans and participating clubs,” the league said in a statement.

“It also ensures the broadcast of every Premier League match is kept to schedule.”

Fines totalling £1.08m were imposed relating to City’s home games against Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, West Ham United and Newcastle United and their away fixtures against Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Ipswich Town.

The longest game delays were two minutes 22 seconds each for restarts against West Ham and Ipswich.

City are awaiting the verdict of 115 unrelated charges of alleged breaches of the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.

The charges cover a period starting from 2009 and continuing into the 2022-23 season. City have always denied any wrongdoing.