People in Manchester expressed shock and disappointment over the scale of the financial breaches involving Manchester City, with some calling for the club to be relegated from the Premier League.
"It's a shame for football. Football is such a great sport and we can't have stories like that," said Karem Fagega, a 21-year-old student, as he reacted to the findings against a club he described as having been "such a good team."
An independent commission found that the Abu Dhabi-backed club used what it described as "sham" contracts with several commercial partners to artificially inflate its revenue and reduce costs by more than 900 million pounds ($1.2 billion) between 2009 and 2018.
During that period, City won the Premier League title three times, as well as one FA Cup and three League Cups.
"They do have the money to do everything right, but they decided to do everything wrong. So I was kind of shocked when I learned about it," said Sabrina Lodi, a 33-year-old account manager, after the news broke Tuesday.
She said, however, that in her view, Manchester City "are not the only ones that do it from around the world," but were "just the ones that got caught."
For Connor Emery, a 25-year-old retail worker who supports City's Premier League rivals Liverpool, the "damning" verdict came as a surprise.
"I can't believe it, to be fair. I never thought the club would get in trouble for anything," he said, adding that he had expected the scandal to be "brushed under the carpet."
Asked about possible consequences for the club, some said they wanted relegation but expected City to avoid it.
British Sports Minister Lisa Nandy warned that "the ultimate sanction is very serious indeed" and that a club "can be expelled from the Premier League."
"I personally think it should be a relegation," said Corey, an 18-year-old student and fan of Manchester's other club, United, adding that the outcome "depends on what the Premier League have in place."
"I would want a relegation, probably a points deduction to get them relegated," Emery said.
But he was skeptical that would happen, adding with a shrug, "It's probably going to be a fine, let's face it."
In initial reactions from those close to the club, former City defender Micah Richards told The Rest Is Football podcast he was "absolutely devastated" by the revelations involving the club where he began playing at age 14.
"I feel saddened. I feel angry. I feel a little bit confused," he added, citing a lack of information and conflicting accounts after City CEO Ferran Soriano described the verdict as a "Premier League conspiracy theory" and insisted the club would "be vindicated."
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane said that, if he were a City player, he would throw away all his medals.
"They knew it would hurt a lot of people, but they've still done it, and, if I was a player, I'd be 100 per cent sticking those medals in the bin," he told ITV.
