Manchester City have been found guilty of 114 of 115 charges of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules.
No sanctions have yet been announced, and City are expected to appeal the ruling. The sanctions could include the stripping of titles won by City, points deductions or financial penalties, or even relegation from the top division.
‘The Premier League process remains ongoing, with important elements still to be completed, and is subject to strict confidentiality. Manchester City FC’s position therefore remains consistent with the club’s statement from February 2023,’ a City spokesperson says.
‘For eight years, the club has carefully respected the principles of due process, on the assumption that the Premier League board and executive would act as an independent, impartial and fair regulatory authority, free from partisan influence.’
Neither the Premier League nor the club has confirmed the ruling, but several media outlets, including The Telegraph, The Times, The Atlantic and BBC, are reporting on the case.
The allegations concern overstated sponsorship revenues and unlawful sponsorship agreements. Germany’s Der Spiegel was the first to publish news of the suspicions against City, as early as 2018.
City are expected to appeal the decision. This must be done within 14 days, after which an appeal panel will be appointed to consider the case. Only once the appeal process has concluded can a punishment take effect, NTB writes.
That decision, however, will be final. An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is not possible in this case.
– Another medal for the collection
City face sanctions such as fines, points deductions and exclusion from the Premier League.
Points deductions can also be imposed for completed seasons, which could potentially result in the club losing titles it has won. A hint of this came almost immediately from the other side of Manchester.
Everton were the first Premier League club to be punished for breaching the league’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). This happened in November 2023 following allegations of far less extensive breaches, and the club were deducted 10 points. The deduction was reduced to 6 points following an appeal.
Nottingham Forest were deducted 4 points in 2024 for breaching the PSR rules.
– Premature
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is asking football fans not to jump to premature conclusions.
– If the reports are confirmed, I would like to read the independent commission’s report. People should not be talking about stripping them of titles at this stage, he said, among other things.
– The process is still ongoing, and important points have yet to be clarified. It is also subject to strict confidentiality requirements. Manchester City’s position therefore remains unchanged from the statement we issued in February 2023, a club spokesperson tells The Athletic.
City are also accused of having secretly paid former manager Roberto Mancini a second salary. The club has also been criticised for failing to cooperate and for obstructing the investigation.
On 6 December 2024, the formal hearing concluded. Since then, the conclusion has been awaited.
City have denied any breach throughout and insisted that a ‘comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence’ must be presented in order to find them guilty.
Eight titles
Since Manchester City were acquired by Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, the club have won eight Premier League titles, one Champions League triumph, the FA Cup four times, seven League Cup titles, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup. Eight of the titles were won during the period in which the alleged rule breaches are said to have occurred (three Premier League titles, three League Cup titles, the FA Cup and the Community Shield).
Manchester City have previously been accused by UEFA of breaching the European governing body’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, and in February 2020 were handed a two-year ban from European club competitions, as well as a fine of €30 million, and a fine of £8.8 million for failing to cooperate with the investigation.
The ruling was, however, overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which found that the breaches were either time-barred or not proven. The Premier League has different limitation rules, and the same loophole does not apply to the ongoing process.
All the breaches
The 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s rules are distributed as follows: failure to provide accurate financial information from 2009–10 to 2017–18 (54 counts), failure to disclose accurate payments to managers and players during the same period (14 counts), breaches of UEFA’s FFP rules (5 counts), breaches of the Premier League’s PSR rules from 2015–16 to 2017–18 (7 counts), failure to cooperate with the Premier League investigation from December 2018 to February 2023 (35 counts).
