The Premier League has officially confirmed that Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. An independent commission determined that the club systematically arranged “sham contracts” with a number of its commercial partners as part of a complex scheme to disguise secret funding of more than 830m. The ruling states that the club relied on these sham agreements to artificially inflate revenues and reduce costs, representing a deliberate or reckless attempt to circumvent the league’s rules. The Club is obviously restricted in what it can say further until all future proceedings are complete. Approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition, it is a key responsibility of the Premier League to ensure that the Rules. The League’s rules state that the hearing must remain private and confidential.
News broke last week that City had been found guilty of breaking the majority of the 115 financial rules they were accused of breaching, but on Tuesday the Premier League published a redacted version of the commission’s report. The commission’s report said the charges “concerned well over 100 alleged individual breaches of Premier League Rules across four broad charge categories”. It also found the club guilty of all charges except one relating to non-cooperation with the Premier League’s investigation. Who took over the club in 2008 and are referred to as “ADUG” in the commission’s report, city are owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group. We take that role extremely seriously. Relating to this case, the Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions.
According to the commission, the sham commercial deals were described as being part of a “disguised funding scheme” to the scale of 830.69m. To illustrate the scale of the manipulation, City recorded 360m in sponsor fees during the three seasons they won the Premier League title (2011-12, 2013-14, and 2017-18). However, the commission revealed that only 43m of this amount was legitimate, while the rest came directly from their owners and was disguised.
“The relevant sponsorship agreements were found to be shams, or at minimum did not reflect their economic substance,” the commission’s report stated. It also detailed “deliberate or reckless conduct intended to circumvent the Premier League rules” and noted that the “sham” scheme devised by City allowed the club “to avoid recording what would otherwise have been the largest single-season loss in Premier League history.” The scale of evidence considered was immense, with the commission pointing out that the index alone ran to more than 750 pages, while the core bundle of documents ran to many tens of thousands of pages. Chief executive of the Premier League, said: “The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period, richard Masters.
Official Responses and Implications
- Lisa Nandy MP: The Culture, Media & Sport secretary told: “It’s incredibly serious, the Premier League report is incredibly stark. This is causing a lot of concern for Man City fans and all fans of Premier League football.”
- Club Statement: “Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today.”
- Sanctions Context: Financial expert Kieran Maguire shared insights on potential sanctions for Man City, highlighting the unprecedented nature of the findings.
- Appeal Deadline: The club continues to deny any wrongdoing and has until 2 October to submit an official appeal.
Timeline of the Investigation
- November 2018: Football Leaks allegations emerge with Der Spiegel publishing claims Manchester City breached financial fair play rules.
- March 2019: Uefa launches a formal investigation off the back of Der Spiegel’s findings.
- May 2019: City criticise the investigation and launch an appeal process.
- November 2019: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) deems City’s appeal inadmissible.
- February 2020: Uefa announces a two-year ban for City from European competitions and a 30m fine.
- July 2020: City’s European ban is overturned after an appeal to Cas.
- July 2021: City lose a jurisdiction ruling that allows the media to report the Premier League is continuing to investigate the champions for alleged financial breaches.
- April 2022: Der Spiegel publishes a fresh report claiming the Premier League has been investigating the club for three years, providing detailed claims.
- February 2023: The Premier League charges City with 115 financial breaches.
- September 2024: The start of a 10-week hearing between the Premier League and City on the 115 charges.
- February 2025: City manager Pep Guardiola says the club expect to learn the verdict “within one month”. Guardiola left the Etihad at the end of last season.
- 25 September 2026: Reports emerge that a verdict has been reached, with sources telling that City have been found guilty of breaking the majority of the charges.
- 29 September 2026: Premier League releases its findings via an independent commission and confirms the guilty verdicts.
