By Matt Lawton for the Daily Mail
Published: 22:31 GMT, 17 March 2019 | Updated: 22:31 GMT, 17 March 2019
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Birmingham are bracing themselves for a 12-point deduction that will send them plummeting down the Championship table when they appear at an English Football League hearing this week.
Lawyers representing both the club and the EFL are due to appear before a disciplinary panel, with the hearing scheduled to begin at an undisclosed location on Monday.
While the verdict will ultimately be delivered by the panel, sources at the EFL fully expect the club to be heavily sanctioned for what they regard as serious breaches of their Financial Fair Play regulations.
Birmingham are bracing themselves for a 12-point deduction over breaches of FFP rules
Garry Monk's side sit 13th in the Championship table with a 14-point cushion between themselves and the relegation places.
But the EFL are pushing for at least a 12-point deduction as well as a transfer ban, in what would be the most severe punishment since Leeds United were docked 15 points in 2007.
Only this week, Birmingham became the first club in more than a decade to be charged by the Football Association over a violent attack by a fan on a player, following the shocking incident involving Aston Villa's Jack Grealish.
But the club's Championship status will come under threat this week when the panel reviews the apparent financial chaos at St Andrew's. A 12-point loss would leave the club just two points above the relegation zone.
