Gary Lineker has called on Manchester City to "accept whatever punishment" they are given for the good of the game after the club were found guilty of more than 100 breaches of Premier League financial rules.
An independent commission said last week that City had arranged "sham" contracts with a number of their commercial partners to artificially inflate revenues and reduce costs over a nine-season period, between 2009 and 2018.
The 10-time English champions, who continue to deny any wrongdoing, confirmed on Friday that they had appealed against the judgement.
No sanction has yet been decided upon but City could face substantial points deductions, a fine or even expulsion from the Premier League.
"Obviously, it looks really bad for Manchester City, and bad for the game, too," former England captain Lineker said on Wednesday at Leaders Week London 2026, held at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium.
"When they talk about the 'Premier League conspiracy theories', you just think to yourself, 'Well, this is actually the last thing in the world that the Premier League would want'.
"So, I'd love to see Man City now just own it and just say, 'OK, we got it wrong but for the good of the game, we'll accept it and we'll accept whatever punishment comes our way and we'll carry on'.
"That would be a blessing and save their face a little bit at the moment, although it doesn't look likely."
Pressed as to whether City should be stripped of the three league titles they won during the period in question, 65-year-old Lineker said: "I wouldn't be surprised if it goes down that route. But who suffers from that? The players and the fans."
Kyle Walker, who spent eight years at City, winning multiple trophies before his departure in 2025, said that the players would always have the memories of their achievements, "whatever happens".
The Burnley right-back, speaking on Talksport, said: "It's something that we probably don't want to talk about because we want to be looked upon as winning (those) trophies and winning them the right way.
"It's very difficult because we've worked very hard for them, and not just us. I look at the fans that have travelled up and down the country, travelled abroad to Istanbul when we won the treble, and they deserve that night as well."