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Update, September 30: On Tuesday the Premier League confirmed that the independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of serious breaches of its financial rules. City say they will appeal, and sanctions are still to be decided. The article below was published before that confirmation.

More than three and a half years after the Premier League first laid out its case, the saga of Manchester City's 115 charges appears to have reached a turning point – though not, if the club's leadership is to be believed, the end of the road.

Reports on Friday claimed that the independent commission hearing the case has reached its decisions and found the majority of the charges proven. Sky Sports News understands that the process is now moving to the appeal stage. Neither the verdict nor any sanction has been officially confirmed, and the Premier League has said it will not comment on what remains a private and confidential process.

City: 'Nothing has changed'

City responded within hours. A club spokesperson said the process remains ongoing, with significant elements still to be completed, and that the club's position has not moved since its original response to the charges in February 2023. The statement also said City had respected due process for eight years on the understanding that the Premier League would act as an impartial regulator.

On Saturday, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak went further in a message to supporters. He said the process still had a long way to run and that the club's confidence in proving its innocence was as strong as when the case began. He added that legal confidentiality prevented him from sharing the reasons behind that confidence, noting that even his letter had gone through several legal checks.

Al Mubarak also urged fans to look ahead, pointing to City's trip to Anfield after the international break and a Champions League meeting with Paris Saint-Germain at the Etihad.

What City were charged with

The charges, brought in February 2023, cover two broad areas: alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial rules between 2009 and 2018, and an alleged failure to cooperate with the league's investigation between 2018 and 2023. City have always denied any wrongdoing and have said their defence is backed by what they call a body of irrefutable evidence.

As broken down by Sky Sports News, the charges include:

54 relating to a failure to provide accurate financial information;
35 relating to a failure to cooperate with the league's investigations between December 2018 and February 2023;
14 relating to the accuracy of details about player and manager payments;
7 relating to breaches of profitability and sustainability rules in 2015-16 and 2017-18;
5 relating to UEFA regulations, including Financial Fair Play, in 2013-14 and 2017-18.

What punishment could City face?

This is where the uncertainty lies. The Premier League has no fixed scale of penalties for financial breaches, so a commission that rules against a club can choose the sanction it sees fit. Under league rules, that could range from a fine to a points deduction or, in the most extreme scenario, expulsion from the competition.

Clubs deliberately chose not to set fixed penalties, according to Sky Sports, amid fears that some might treat a known punishment as a price worth paying. League chief executive Richard Masters said in February 2025 that a 'sanctions grid' was being considered, but it has not yet been introduced.

Recent precedent offers only a partial guide, because none of those cases came close to City's in scale. Everton were docked six points and then two more during the 2023-24 season for breaching profit and sustainability rules, while Nottingham Forest lost four points that same campaign. Further back, Luton Town started the 2008-09 season on minus 30, and Derby County were deducted 21 points in 2021-22.

What happens next

With an appeal stage now expected, a final outcome still looks some way off, and City will continue to compete as normal in the meantime. Their season resumes after the international break with that trip to Anfield, followed by the visit of PSG.

For the rest of the Premier League, the wait goes on. Any points deduction would reshape debates about past title races and the current table alike, while a lighter sanction or a successful appeal would raise fresh questions about how the league polices its financial rules. Until the process is complete and the league or the club publish the findings, the reports remain just that – reports.

Photo: Cléria De Souza / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0