Man City guilty of all serious financial breach charges: Premier League

Manchester City has been found guilty on every charge of serious financial rule-breaking brought against it by the Premier League, covering nine seasons between 2009-10 and 2017-18, the league announced Tuesday.

The ruling follows a lengthy investigation and a case first brought against the club in February 2023, when more than 100 charges were laid out after a four-year inquiry into the club's finances.

According to the Premier League, an independent panel concluded that City had entered into contracts with several commercial partners that did not reflect the actual financial arrangements involved, effectively disguising the real terms of those deals.

The panel determined that these arrangements were used to overstate the club's income and understate its expenses by upwards of 900 million pounds, or roughly $1.2bn, over the period examined, allowing City to appear compliant with financial regulations it had in fact violated.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the findings lay out how the club violated league rules consistently over a span of nearly ten years. He noted that further questions remain unresolved, most notably what punishment will be imposed.

Manchester City rejected the findings and confirmed it intends to appeal. In a statement, the club said it was "disappointed and surprised" by the panel's conclusions, maintaining that it has not committed any wrongdoing and possesses extensive evidence backing its position. The club argued that the decision includes significant mistakes of law, principle and fact, calling it unsound.

Investigators reportedly found that City structured sponsorship deals so that its commercial partners covered only part of the agreed fees, with the remaining amount quietly paid by Abu Dhabi United Group, the club's ownership entity. Additional arrangements funded by the same group allegedly let City report spending figures lower than what it actually paid out. Had the true figures been disclosed, the panel found, City would have exceeded permitted spending thresholds by a significant margin. The club was also found to have taken deliberate steps to hinder and obstruct the Premier League's investigation.

UK Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy described the findings as extremely serious, calling the league's report stark.

City has dominated English football since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the UAE's vice-president and deputy prime minister, took ownership of the club in 2008. Since then, City has claimed eight Premier League titles, four FA Cups and seven League Cups, along with its first Champions League triumph in 2023.

Under Premier League regulations, punishments for financial rule violations can range from fines to points deductions or even expulsion from the competition. Both Everton and Nottingham Forest received points deductions during the 2023-24 season over single violations of financial sustainability rules, a precedent that has fueled speculation that City could face relegation if a similar, scaled-up penalty were applied given the number of charges involved.

David Bernstein, who chaired Manchester City between 1998 and 2003, said the club should be thrown out of the Premier League following the verdict. Speaking to the BBC, he called the findings damning and questioned whether the current leadership at the club should remain in place. Bernstein said the punishment must extend beyond financial penalties, arguing that the league's credibility is on the line, and said that if the appeal is unsuccessful, City should not be allowed to continue competing in the division.