Man City found guilty as Premier League verdict lands and appeal begins

After more than three and a half years, the verdict is in. An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules, the league confirmed on Tuesday, in what chief executive Richard Masters called the most significant disciplinary case in its history.

City have already said they will appeal. They have until Friday, October 2, to do so, and the question of what punishment they will face is still to be decided.

What the commission found

According to the findings released by the Premier League and reported by Sky Sports, the commission concluded that between 2009-10 and 2017-18, City arranged sham contracts with a number of commercial partners as part of a disguised funding scheme. That scheme artificially inflated the club's revenues by £830 million.

The commission found that the partners involved paid only part of the sponsorship fees, with the rest funded by Abu Dhabi United Group, the club's owner. It also found that City filed accounts that concealed the true state of their finances, were significantly in breach of both Premier League and UEFA spending limits, and broke well over 100 league regulations.

On the charges relating to City's cooperation with the investigation, three of the four alleged breaches were upheld and one was not proven. The commission also described it as regrettable that the decision had taken so long, given the hearing itself took place between September and December 2024.

City: 'Disappointed and surprised'

In a statement, City said they were disappointed and surprised by the decision and insisted the club is innocent, maintaining that a body of irrefutable evidence supports their position. The club said it would pursue appeal routes on the basis that the ruling contains clear errors of law, principle and fact.

Sky Sports News also obtained a video message from chief executive Ferran Soriano to staff and players, in which he described the case as a Premier League conspiracy theory and said evidence existed to show the money did not come from the club's owner.

The league's view

Masters said the decision established how City had systematically broken the rules for nearly a decade, and vindicated the league's decision to pursue the case. He added that the sanction still has to be decided and that the league wants to move through the rest of the process quickly to give certainty to clubs and fans.

What punishment could follow?

Sanctions will be dealt with at a further hearing before the independent commission. The options available include points deductions, fines, transfer bans and, in the most extreme case, expulsion from the Premier League.

If City were expelled, they would have to apply to the FA to rejoin the football pyramid, and under EFL rules any new member club must start in League Two, subject to a vote by the 72 EFL clubs. A large points deduction could instead lead to relegation to the Championship.

The trophies in question

The period covered by the findings was one of the most successful in City's history. Between 2009-10 and 2017-18, the club won three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, three League Cups and a Community Shield. Whether the verdict has any consequences for those honours has not been addressed.

What happens next

For now, City's focus returns to the pitch after the international break, starting with a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool on October 11. Off the pitch, the appeal and the sanctions hearing will decide how this landmark case finally ends, and what it means for the rest of the Premier League.

Photo: Ank Kumar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0