Friday 5 May 2017 18:26, UK
Manchester City have been banned from signing academy players for two years and fined £300,000 for breaching Premier League rules.
City have been found to have broken the league's youth development laws; guilty of illegal approaches to two players registered with other clubs.
Following an investigation, the Premier League says it had found evidence of contact between City officials and members of the players' families.
It comes after a similar punishment was handed to Liverpool for a different offence earlier this month. The Reds were banned from signing academy players for a year and fined £100,000 for offering a youth player illicit inducements.
"Manchester City will pay a fine of £300,000 and will be prohibited from registering any academy players in the U10 to U18 age range who have been registered with a Premier League or EFL club in the preceding 18 months," a league statement confirmed.
"This ban will last for two years. The period of this ban from 30 June 2018 onwards will be suspended for three years to be activated in the event of any similar breach by the club.
"In each case, the academy player was conditionally registered with Manchester City while the Premier League's investigation was ongoing.
"As a result of the club's breaches, the players' registrations will be terminated on a specified date, with no compensation rights retained by the club, and the club will not be permitted to re-register them as academy players.
"In addition, Manchester City has offered to pay compensation to each player's previous club, and maintain educational provision for each player until the completion of his GCSEs."
