Manchester City’s owners and senior officials could face calls to stand down in the wake of the club being found guilty of the majority of their 115 financial charges, talkSPORT understands.City as a club are set for hefty sanctions after an independent panel ruled in favour of the Premier League.Man City remain insistent on their innocenceGettyA source with knowledge of the situation told talkSPORT the ‘nuclear option’ is if the government’s Independent Football Regulator decides their owners or senior officials named in the judgement are ‘unfit’. This could prompt the regulator to take action or ensure the Premier League launch their own review.The regulator announced its own version of the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test in September last year.Their statement read: “Good owners, running clubs effectively, will experience minimal impact.“However, if the IFR has concerns about the suitability of an incumbent, it will be able to take action.”City continue to maintain their innocence and plan to appeal the charges once their punishment is determined.talkSPORT has been told rival Premier League clubs are sceptical at the prospect of them being stripped of any titles, believing a big fine and potential points deduction are the most likely outcome.This is in part down to the complexities of a retrospective punishment compared to a forward-looking one.Teams including Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool are planning legal action against City.Meanwhile sources close to former Manchester City chief operating officer Omar Berrada, now chief executive at Manchester United, are confident his position will not be affected by the verdict on the charges.Man City will appeal the guilty verdictsGettyFormer Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan joined talkSPORT as news of the guilty verdicts broke.“I am surprised and unsurprised in equal measure,” Jordan said.“I am surprised that the Premier League and the independent commission have had the balls to make this decision.“I’m unsurprised because I always thought Man City had a case to answer and there’s a part of me, without wanting to be vindictive towards Man City, that thinks this is possibly a good thing.“Because whilst Man City will put forward the argument that they were found guilty by UEFA and then cleared by CAS, that’s a re-framing of the circumstances to some extent.“Because the scope of what they were asked to contend with under the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) arbitration was slightly different to what UEFA found them guilty of in the first instance.The wait for a decision on City’s breaches of FFP has been hanging over the club since February 2023Getty“So, it’ll be interesting to see how Man City play the appeal out, but they are now in significant trouble, because I don’t think that an appeal is going to be particularly fruitful for them, I don’t think it’s going to produce a different outcome.“Because this is now reputational harm beyond all reputational harm.“This project wasn’t just about football, this was about a nation state utilising sport to create favourable outcomes – that’s all now been besmirched.”