Erling Haaland U-turn made after Man City found guilty of Premier League charges | Football

Erling Haaland has been withdrawn from Norway’s press conference this weekend following the news that Manchester City have been found guilty of breaking the Premier League’s financial rules.

On Friday, it emerged that City have been found guilty on all but one of the Premier League’s 115 charges following a decision by an independent panel.

City, who deny any wrongdoing, were initially charged in February 2023 with breaking financial regulations over a nine-year period, dating from 2009 to 2018.

The Premier League has not yet decided on the sanctions, while City are expected to appeal the verdict as they could face a significant points deduction, a financial penalty or even relegation from the top flight.

Haaland, who was signed by City in a £51.2 million deal from Borussia Dortmund in 2022, is away with Norway’s national team for the international break.

The 26-year-old scored twice in Norway’s 3-2 win over Denmark this week and was due to appear at a press conference with the national team in Oslo on Saturday morning.

Man City’s 115 charges in full

Failure to provide accurate and up-to-date financial information (2009-2018) – 54 charges

Failure to provide accurate financial reports for player and manager compensation (2009-2018) – 14 charges

Failure to comply with UEFA’s regulations, including Financial Fair Play Regulations – 5 charges

Breaching Premier League Profitability and Sustainability regulations (2015-2018) – 7 charges

Failure to co-operate with Premier League investigations (2018-2023) – 35 charges

But in light of City’s guilty verdict, Norway announced on Friday that Haaland will not be speaking to the media and the striker has been replaced by Fredrik Aursnes and Andreas Schjelderup for the press conference alongside head coach Stale Solbakken.

Norway play Portugal in their next Nations League game on Sunday evening.

Haaland, meanwhile, signed a long-term contract extension with City 20 months ago which keeps him tied to the Etihad Stadium until 2034.

What punishment could Man City face?

The Premier League does not have set sanctions for financial rule breaches which means City could face a points deduction, a fine, or even expulsion from the top flight.

In 2024, Everton were deducted six and then two points for breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules.

In that same year, Nottingham Forest were deducted four points.

In 2020, UEFA banned City from competing in Europe for two seasons for ‘overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts’.

City immediately submitted an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and their two-year ban was overturned.

CAS also reduced City’s €30 million (£25m) fine to €10m (£8.9m) after finding that ‘most of the alleged breaches reported were either not established or time-barred’.

Speaking a year ago, Haaland said that he had been assured by City that the club were not guilty of the Premier League’s charges.

‘I spoke with the bosses, and in the end, I believe them,’ Haaland told TIME Magazine.

‘It’s such a tricky situation for me to even sit there and speak about, because I wasn’t really involved in it.

‘So I think the club knows what they’re doing. They will sort it out.’

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