The Premier League announced on Tuesday that an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the league’s financial rules over a nine-season period from 2009-10 to 2017-18.
They were also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to the club’s failure to cooperate with the league’s investigation.
It was also announced that an independent commission will hold a separate hearing to decide on the sanctions handed out to City, while City have until Friday, October 2 to appeal.
City were taken over by Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008 and have been the most successful English team since, winning eight Premier League titles, seven League Cups, four FA Cups and a Champions League trophy.
Some of the key findings of the independent commission were the following:
- Man City arranged “sham” contracts and agreements with its commercial partners to inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce costs, by more than £900 million “to appear to comply with financial rules”
- As such, if Manchester City had accurately reported their finances, they would have breached the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules and UEFA’s Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Rules “by a very substantial amount”
- Manchester City “made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation”
Premier League statement
“The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade,” Richard Masters, the chief executive of the Premier League, said. “It also vindicates the Premier League’s decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.”
The full statement from the Premier League can be read here.
Manchester City statement
City released a statement here, saying they are “innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League” and “a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions” and say that “the Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted.”
“Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today. The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case. The Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums. The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted. Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.”
