Senior figures from rival Premier League clubs have urged authorities to hand down a punishment to Manchester City before the current season concludes, following the club's landmark guilty verdict on financial rule breaches.

The Premier League confirmed on Tuesday that Manchester City had been found guilty on all charges related to breaches of its financial regulations across nine seasons, from 2009-10 through to 2017-18. Among the most serious findings was that City artificially inflated their revenue by more than £900 million through what were described as "sham" sponsorship arrangements.

Urgency from within football

Speaking to BBC Sport on condition of anonymity, several senior club officials expressed a clear desire for the process to be wrapped up before the campaign is over. "It benefits everyone for this to be resolved as quickly as possible," one official said.

When pressed on whether they believed that was achievable, the same source replied: "Instinctively yes, but it has to be done right. We can all see what the risks are if it's not. But those risks have been there throughout the process, as they've won the league multiple times during it."

A second source said the case "should" be resolved by the end of the season and expressed hope that any appeal would be "compressed" in its duration.

The appeal process

Manchester City have consistently denied any wrongdoing and are expected to lodge a formal appeal before the end of this week. Under Premier League regulations, an appeal should conclude no more than 12 weeks after it is filed, with a final decision required within 30 days of its conclusion. Procedures can be accelerated to meet deadlines such as the end of a league season.

The final ruling, however, rests with an independent commission. Both the Premier League board and Manchester City will have the opportunity to propose a suitable sanction before the panel reaches its verdict.

There is growing concern inside the game that allowing the season to end without a resolution — particularly if Manchester City were to win the title — could create significant uncertainty and undermine the integrity of the competition.

City's stance and legal options

Ferran Soriano, Manchester City's chief executive, has indicated publicly that he expects the case to run for a considerable period. While the club cannot escalate the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, they could potentially challenge the impartiality of the process at the High Court.

The Premier League, for its part, has stated it wants proceedings to be "concluded as soon as possible."