The hearing finally got underway on Monday.

Manchester City are at risk of a potentially catastrophic punishment if found guilty of all 115 Premier League charges.

City’s battle with the Premier League continued on Monday with the start of the long-awaited hearing into the club’s alleged 115 rule breaches.

The so-called ‘Trial of the Century, which is being overseen by a three-person independent commission, is a pivotal moment for both City and English football as a whole.

The charges mainly relate to a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018, with City accused of various rule breaches – all of which the club strenuously deny.

The Premier League champions have been accused of failing to provide accurate financial information, failing to provide accurate details for player and manager payments, breaching profit and sustainability rules (PSR), failing to comply with UEFA regulations including financial fair play (FFP) and failing to cooperate with Premier League investigations.

City claim they have “irrefutable evidence” to support their defence and “look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all”.

Earlier this week, City manager Pep Guardiola claimed the rest of the Premier League are hoping for the defending champions to be punished even before a final verdict is reached.

Several punishments for City, should they be found guilty of all charges, have been previously suggested – including fines, points deductions and even expulsion from the Premier League.

But it could go even further than that.

The Telegraph claim that City are in danger of being thrown out of other competitions if the commission rules against the club.

City would be at risk of being expelled from both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup in addition to the Premier League, it is claimed.

Meanwhile, there is no certainty they would be able to continue to play in the Champions League or at the FIFA Club World Cup.

The rules for the two domestic cup competitions allow for the possibility of City being excluded.

Clause 31 of the FA Cup rules states: “Where a club has been admitted to participate in the competition but is then removed from the league in which it competes (or its league fixtures are suspended), the Professional Game Board [PGB] may remove the club from the competition.”

City’s hearing began earlier this week (Image: Getty)

The PGB is made up of representatives of the Premier League and English Football League [EFL].

Meanwhile, Carabao Cup rules define participating clubs as “each member from time to time of the league and each member from time to time of the Premier League”.

The rules for the Champions League appear to be more complex, with teams requiring a UEFA club licence to play in European competition.

The report claims City’s Premier League rivals do not believe a one-off points deduction would be sufficient punishment, if the Etihad club is found guilty of the majority of offences they stand accused of.

While the independent commission has the power to expel City from the Premier League, it is not able to demote them to a particular league.

The commission has no jurisdiction over the likes of the EFL or National League. Therefore, expelling City would force them to apply to enter either competition.

While the EFL would have no obligation to make them a member, the commercial benefits of having a club the size of City in the lower leagues of English football would be a huge incentive to accept them.

City have denied any wrongdoing and are confident of proving their innocence in the coming months.