Football history is dotted with incident of penalties and punishments for clubs who violate immediate and extant rules governing the game as set by organizing authorities.
Manchester City’s alleged breach of Financial Fair Play Rules has further awaken controversial incident of alleged violations that was met with various forms of penalties.
City is at risk of coming under the sledgehammer of the Premier League for breaching Financial and Fair Play Rules, with their Premier League rivals reportedly calling for them to be relegated, if an independent investigations uncovers any wrongdoing.
If Manchester City are found guilty, any chosen penalty, no matter how suitable, will be controversial. opponents will be swayed by their convictions and will skew the debate.
The Manchester club will not be the first club to be be penalised for violating rules set by relevant football authorities. Below is a list of clubs that have been penalised for wrongdoing in their history.
Nueva Chicago
Nueva Chicago were penalized for having their supporters broke into the pitch in a second-tie relegation playoff with Tigre in 2007.
Nueva Chicago had went 3-1 down on aggregate in the second leg before their supporters invaded the pitch, attacking players.
A Tigre supporter died at the spot following the incident and Nueva Chicago suffered 18 points deduction, and were banned from playing home matches.
Olympic Marseille
The French Ligue 1 side came under the scrutiny of football authorities a year after being crowned European Champions.
They had defeated AC Milan to win the 1993 European Cup, but were indicted in a bribery scandal which led to their relegation to France second division.
Their owner Bernard Tapie was also indicted for playing a role in the scandal and was jailed, with the club stripped off their 1991/92 Ligue 1 title.
Juventus Calciopoli
Calciopoli was one of the biggest scandal that enshrouded Juventus football club. The Old Ladies were accused of influencing the outcome of games by inducing referees to tilt the game in their favor.
Other top clubs in Italian football – Lazio, Fiorentina, and AC Milan – were also caught up in the scandal
Juventus were relegated to Serie B and had to start their campaign with a minus nine points after they were convicted.
AC Milan, Fiorentina, and Lazio were hit with 30-point deductions.
Rangers
Rangers were in financial ruin in 2011-12 and were relegated to the third tier in Scottish football league.
There were last-minute efforts to salvage the situation and reverse the ruin, but it was too late as Scottish Premier League members have them dropped, not only to the second tier, but the third tier.
Luton Town
Luton Town was found guilty of shady financial dealings and irregularities, and were deducted 30 points in the 2008/09 football season.
The point deduction saw them spiral down the ranking in English football to the national league.
Juventus II
After the Calciopoli scandal, Juventus are under the sledgehammer of Italian football authorities again. They have allegedly inflated player’s wages and salaries to beat off the scrutiny of football authorities.
This has led to them being slammed with 15 points deduction this season, leaving them on mid-table in the Serie A.
The penalty has left them struggling to return to the top four and may likely fail to return to the Champions League spot this season.
Middlesbrough
In 1996, Middlesbrough refused to honor a crunch relegation tie with Blackburn Rovers, calling off the game with 24-hour notice on the grounds 23 of their players were sick, injured or facing suspension.
After failing to honor the match, they were hit with a 3-point deduction and were relegated.
