An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules over a nine-season period, from 2009 to 2018. During that time, City won their first three Premier League titles and laid the foundations for their dominance of English football.
The Premier League described the verdict as "the most significant in Premier League history" in a statement unprecedented in its findings and language used. Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, said the decision "vindicates" the pursuit of a long, difficult case, finding that City "systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade".
Sham contracts and inflated finances
The commission found that City relied on "sham" deals to overstate their financial position by more than £900 million. The purpose of these schemes was to artificially inflate the club's revenues and reduce its costs to appear to comply with financial rules.
City entered into commercial contracts with sponsors that were found to effectively be a "disguised funding scheme". The partner would only pay a portion of the sponsorship fee, with the remainder funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
Further "sham" arrangements, funded by ADUG, were entered into to enable the club to record lower operating expenses than it actually incurred, as well as a "sham" circular arrangement with Fordham, an entity that purchased the club's players' image rights. The commission described Fordham as "in reality little more than a front" for ADUG. City therefore "concealed the true state of its finances", and the commission concluded that "the club clearly intended to circumvent the PL Rules".
Dishonest witnesses and non-cooperation
The commission also accused some witnesses of giving false evidence and being dishonest. In a 42-day hearing that concluded in December 2024, it was suggested that certain witnesses brought forward by City did not act honestly. The statement said evidence given by a number of important factual witnesses called on behalf of the club "was false in a number of key respects", and that certain witnesses had given evidence at the hearing that they knew to be untrue and so had been dishonest.
City were found guilty of the majority of the non-cooperation charges brought against them, relating to Premier League investigations between 2018 and 2023. The commission found that City "made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the PL investigation", with multiple breaches of its duties of cooperation and utmost good faith. City were also found to have committed "additional and perhaps more egregious acts of non-cooperation" by making inaccurate, dishonest and/or misleading statements when responding to questions about their financial arrangements.
Appeal and sanctions
City have the right to appeal the commission's findings, with a deadline of Friday October 2. In a statement of their own, City confirmed they are exploring the appeal options available to them.
The independent commission will hold a further hearing on sanctions, which will remain a private and confidential process. Masters said: "There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches. 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."
