UEFA has confirmed that Manchester City have been referred to the Club Financial Control Body's adjudicatory chamber for alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play regulations.
The investigatory chamber of UEFA's financial control board have spent months examining evidence first uncovered in a series of leaks and reported by German publication Der Spiegel last year.
And according to a report in the New York Times on Monday night a meeting two weeks ago at UEFA's Swiss headquarters concluded with a desire to seek at least a one-season ban.
The investigatory panel's leader, former Belgium prime minister Yves Leterme, had the final say on any submission made to a separate adjudicatory chamber and he has now given the green light.
City were fined £49million and hit with restrictions on transfer spending and their Champions League squad after FFP breaches were originally investigated in 2014, and UEFA began a new probe after further allegations about the same period were made in German publication Der Spiegel last year.
'The Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) chief investigator, after having consulted with the other members of the independent investigatory chamber of the CFCB, has decided to refer Manchester City FC to the CFCB adjudicatory chamber following the conclusion of his investigation,' said a UEFA statement.
'The CFCB investigatory chamber had opened an investigation into Manchester City FC on 7 March 2019 for potential breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations that were made public in various media outlets.
'UEFA will not be making any further comment on the matter until a decision is announced by the CFCB adjudicatory chamber.'
Man City's official statement about the charge:
Man City 'disappointed but not surprised' as FFP case changes hands and drags on