Manchester City have been found guilty of all but one of the 115 alleged charges in their long-running dispute with the Premier League, according to the league's written reasons. The independent panel confirmed that the club used a "Disguised Funding Scheme" between 2009 and 2018, improperly declaring £949.94 million as commercial sponsorship revenue when only £119.25 million was legitimate base fee payments from Abu Dhabi sponsors. The remaining £830.69 million was direct funding from Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), which should have been recorded as equity contributions rather than sponsorship income.
Scope and outcome of the charges
In February 2023, the Premier League charged Manchester City with over 100 individual rule breaches spanning multiple seasons, grouped into four main categories. The league alleged that these violations constituted severe, sustained, and intentional non-compliance critical to fair competition. Following an extensive review, the independent panel found every charge proven against Manchester City except for Charge 4(B), marking a landmark ruling against the club after years of legal friction.
Length of the hearing and witness credibility
The substantive hearing spanned 42 days between September and December 2024 and included oral testimony from 27 factual and expert witnesses. Millions of pages of documents, expert reports, and roughly 7,000 pages of verbatim transcripts were evaluated during the proceedings. While the panel noted that most individuals tried to give honest testimony, it concluded that evidence from several key witnesses called by the club was false in core respects. The decision highlights that certain club witnesses knowingly gave untrue testimony during the hearings.
Managerial remuneration and Guardiola's exclusion
A central pillar of Charge 1(B) involved alleged secondary or secret payments made to a redacted employee beyond his primary employment contract. The Commission scrutinised side agreements—including contracts linked to Abu Dhabi-based entities—to determine if total managerial compensation was improperly disguised or omitted from official filings. The document shows that former manager Pep Guardiola was not implicated in or charged with any personal financial wrongdoing or rule breaches. His tenure falls within the broader timeline of financial reporting rules under review, but the panel’s findings of serious infractions focused on administrative, executive, and structural reporting failures.
Evidence standards and redacted conclusions
Because the charges alleged severe institutional wrongdoing, the Commission applied a high standard requiring strong, cogent evidence to find the club guilty. Except for Charge 4(B), the tribunal determined that the circumstantial and direct evidence presented by the Premier League comfortably met this burden. The official document published by the tribunal has its entire concluding section fully redacted and blacked out. As a result, specific information regarding sanctions, penalties, or immediate formal remedies remains confidential and unavailable to the public at this stage.
