Manchester City have been fined over £1m by the Premier League over delayed kick-offs or restarts related to nine of their matches last season.

The league announced on Thursday it had entered into a sanction agreement with the club over breaches of the league’s rules around kick-off and restart times between October and February.

The longest delay was two minutes and 24 seconds before the resumption of the Manchester derby at Old Trafford last December.

The Premier League said City had accepted and apologised for the breaches of Rule L.33, with the fines totalling £1.08m.

The league said City had 14 days to make payment from the execution of the sanction agreement.

A league statement said: “Rules relating to kick-offs and restarts help ensure the organisation of the competition is set at the highest possible professional standard and provides certainty to fans and participating clubs.

“It also ensures the broadcast of every Premier League match is kept to schedule.”

City were fined over £2m last summer for 22 breaches of the kick-off and restart rules during the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons.

The issue is unconnected to the 115 charges City are facing for alleged breaches of the competition’s financial regulations, which the club unequivocally denies.

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