Manchester City has been found guilty of arranging “sham” contracts as part of a series of financial breaches, after an independent commission ruled that the club broke Premier League financial rules over a nine-season period.
The verdict, published on Tuesday, found City guilty of all charges relating to serious financial breaches between 2009 and 2018, as well as the majority of charges relating to its failure to co-operate with the Premier League’s investigation.
The Premier League said City’s alleged financial schemes artificially inflated the club’s revenues and reduced its costs by more than £900 million during the period under investigation.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the ruling showed that City had “systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade”.
“This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history,” Masters said.
City now faces potentially severe sanctions, which could include a significant points deduction or even expulsion from the Premier League. However, any punishment will be decided at a separate hearing by the independent commission.
The Premier League has not said when that hearing will take place.
City has consistently denied wrongdoing and said it was “disappointed and surprised” by the verdict. The club plans to appeal and said it would remain “relentless” in its efforts to clear its name. The Premier League said any appeal must be lodged by Friday.
In an internal video to City staff obtained by Sky News, chief executive Ferran Soriano explained why he believed the verdict was wrong.
“This has gone on for so long that it is important to remind ourselves that the whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation: that the owner’s personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi,” he said.
“This is just not true. Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League commission that shows it could not happen and that it did not happen.”
The verdict follows an investigation that began in December 2018, while the allegations first emerged in 2018 through leaked club emails and documents. The Premier League formally issued its complaint against City in February 2023.
City was accused of a series of financial violations between 2009 and 2018, a period in which the club transformed from being in the shadow of Manchester United into one of the most successful sides in English football.
The breaches included failing to provide accurate financial information, submitting inflated figures for sponsorship deals linked to Abu Dhabi, concealing payments and breaching Premier League and UEFA financial regulations.
The commission also found City guilty of most of the charges relating to its failure to co-operate with the Premier League investigation. The league said the club had used “sham” contracts with several commercial partners and relied on similar agreements with others to artificially increase revenue and reduce costs.
The Premier League said City filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from auditors and football regulators.
The findings are likely to have major consequences for City and English football. Rival clubs could pursue legal action seeking compensation if they believe they were financially affected by the club’s alleged breaches.
There will also be questions over the futures of City’s leading players and the club’s ownership structure. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, bought City in 2008. The club has since become the centrepiece of the City Football Group, which owns clubs including New York City FC and Melbourne City.
City has repeatedly maintained its innocence throughout the case. When the charges were formally brought in 2023, the club said there was a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence” supporting its position.
City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak also said over the weekend that there remained “confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence”.
The appeal could eventually reach the High Court in London if City argues that the process was unfair or improperly conducted.
Meanwhile, officials in Australia said on Wednesday that they would wait for the legal process to develop before considering any implications for A-League club Melbourne City, which has been owned by the City Football Group since 2014.
Australian Professional Leagues chief executive Steve Rosich said the organisation had never investigated Melbourne City over its financial affairs.
“No, it doesn’t concern us,” Rosich said. “There is further work to follow and findings to follow in the legal process, so we’ll consider that. The international football economy is intertwined, so all parties will be reviewing that.”
