Manchester City Found Guilty of Serious Premier League Financial Rule Breaches
Manchester City have been found guilty of serious breaches of Premier League financial rules in a landmark ruling that pushes one of English football’s biggest regulatory battles into its next phase.
An independent Commission found City guilty of all charges relating to serious financial breaches across nine seasons between 2009/10 and 2017/18, as well as the majority of charges concerning the club’s failure to co-operate with the Premier League investigation.
The ruling does not yet determine City’s punishment.
The Premier League says a separate hearing will decide what sanction should follow, while the club has the right to appeal the findings and has until Friday, October 2, to exercise that right.
City have rejected the decision and confirmed that they intend to challenge it.
In an official statement, the club said it was disappointed and surprised by the Commission’s findings, maintained its innocence and said it would pursue the appeal avenues available to it. City also argued that the ruling contained material errors of law, principle and fact.
Commission finds revenues and costs were misrepresented
According to the Premier League’s published summary, the Commission found that Manchester City used commercial arrangements that misrepresented the true agreements between the parties, artificially increasing revenues and reducing costs.
The Commission concluded that the schemes increased reported revenues and reduced costs by more than £900 million across the affected period. It also found that City filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of the club’s finances from auditors and football regulators.
The findings state that City would have been in significant breach of both Premier League and UEFA spending limits if the relevant agreements had been accurately reflected in the club’s accounts.
The Commission also upheld three of four alleged breaches concerning City’s duties of co-operation and utmost good faith during the Premier League investigation.
Premier League calls case its most significant disciplinary action
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the decision established what happened during the period examined by the Commission and described the proceedings as the most significant disciplinary case in the competition’s history.
The remaining question is what punishment should follow.
Premier League rules give an independent Commission broad discretion over sanctions, with available measures including fines, points deductions and other sporting sanctions. That does not mean any particular punishment has been imposed on Manchester City.
City prepare to continue legal fight
Manchester City’s response makes clear that the dispute is not over.
The club says substantial evidence supports its position and that it will challenge the findings through the regulatory and legal routes available to it.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak had also urged supporters before the ruling not to reach conclusions while the process remained incomplete.
The case now moves along two tracks: the separate process to determine sanctions and City’s intended appeal against the Commission’s findings.
Until those stages are completed, the scale of any sporting consequences remains unresolved.
What is established at Commission level is that Manchester City have been found guilty of serious breaches of Premier League financial rules over a prolonged period.
