The high-profile case against Manchester City over breaches of the English Premier League’s financial rules did not pass us by. We wanted to know how fans themselves see it, so we surveyed 284 Russian-speaking football fans: 165 Manchester City supporters and 119 fans of other clubs. The survey ran on 20–30 October 2026 in City fan communities and an expert football Telegram channel.
We prepared the study in our Research Hub and put the results into an interactive HTML report. It all went quickly and smoothly, and the findings are worth sharing — things are not as clear-cut as they might seem at first glance:
- Hatred of City is overstated. Fans of other clubs are fairly calm about the club: half are neutral (50%), 29% negative and 21% positive.
- Almost everyone wants a punishment — even 84% of City fans. The debate is about how severe: a fine and a transfer ban suit both sides, while stripping titles is a red line.
- Only 10% of City fans themselves are sure the club broke no rules.
- The case has brought City fans together: 66% now support the club more strongly.
- Beyond the club, views on rules divide opinions on the case. Respondents fall into four segments: “Rule-flexible” fans defend the club, “Principled” fans and “Big-money sceptics” demand strict punishment, and “Order supporters” see the case the same way as respondents overall.
