Why Man City have been slapped with £2m fine as Premier League champions are punished for breach of little-known rule 22 times - explained

City accepted the £2m ($2.6m) fine after being sanctioned for delaying kick-off in matches on 22 separate occasions over the past two seasons. One of those came in the final game of last season, when the Premier League champions delayed the start of the second half of their title-deciding clash against West Ham by two minutes and 46 seconds.

The fines range from £10,000 to £200,000 according to the Daily Mail, the lowest for City's first offence and the highest after the West Ham game. They're not the only Premier League side to fall foul of this little-known rule; in August 2023, Crystal Palace were fined £220,000 (£70,000 suspended) for late kick-offs in two matches in 2022-23.

A statement from the league read: "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.

"It also ensures the broadcast of all 380 League matches around the world is kept to schedule."

The delay against West Ham was the longest committed by Pep Guardiola's side. The shortest was the one minute and 17 seconds it took them to begin the second half of games against Brighton in May 2023 and against Newcastle in August 2023.

Guardiola and his team are currently gearing up for the new season in the United States, with recently friendlies against Celtic, AC Milan and Barcelona all proving competitive. Next up is a meeting in Ohio with Enzo Maresca's Chelsea on August 3.