Manchester City have been found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial regulations following a ruling by an independent commission.
The Premier League announced the decision on Tuesday, stating that the club was guilty of serious financial breaches covering a nine-season period. The commission also found City guilty of failing to cooperate with the league’s investigation.
“An independent Commission has found Manchester City FC guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation,” the statement reads in part.
The case, which became public in 2023, involved 115 charges against the reigning Premier League giants. Reports indicated that the club was found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges, while the punishment has yet to be determined.
The commission examined City’s financial activities between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons. Among its findings were allegations that the club used sham commercial agreements to inflate revenue and lower reported costs.
The commission also found that City concealed its actual financial position and breached spending regulations both domestically and in European competitions.
A major part of the ruling concerned a funding arrangement involving the Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), the club’s owners. According to the commission, commercial partners paid only part of the value of sponsorship agreements, while most of the money was provided by ADUG.
The Premier League said ADUG also engaged a third party to acquire players’ image rights, allowing additional funds to reach the club without fully complying with league regulations.
“The purpose of these schemes was found to have been to artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than £900 million during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules,” it wrote.
“The consequence of this, as the Commission found, was that the club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators. The Commission concluded that ‘by its conduct the club clearly intended to circumvent the PL Rules’.”
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Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the outcome justified the league’s decision to pursue the lengthy case despite what he described as significant pressure.
“This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history. There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches,” he said.
“Now we have the Commission’s decision, we are committed to moving swiftly through the remainder of the process, to provide certainty for the League, our clubs and fans.”
Manchester City have indicated that they intend to appeal the ruling and have until October 2 to exercise that right. The Premier League said it wants the remaining process concluded “as soon as possible”.
City’s rise to the top of English football followed Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan’s takeover of the club in 2008.
Since then, Manchester City have won eight Premier League titles, four FA Cups and seven League Cups. The club also claimed its first Champions League trophy in 2023.