Manchester City was found guilty of committing serious breaches of the financial rules of the Premier League during a period of nine seasons, between 2009-10 and 2017-18, as confirmed this Tuesday by the English competition.
An independent commission found that the club used fictitious contracts with several of its commercial partners to artificially inflate its revenues and reduce its costs. According to the conclusions of the process, these operations allowed City to present a financial situation different from the real one and avoid non-compliance with the spending limits established by the Premier League and UEFA.
The maneuvers would have allowed the English team to alter its income and expenses by more than 900 million pounds during the period analyzed. The commission also concluded that the club did not correctly report certain financial transactions and withheld relevant information from its auditors and regulatory bodies.
The report also points out that, had Manchester City presented its accounts correctly, it would have exceeded the established financial limits “by a very considerable amount.”
The commission also found the club guilty of most of the charges relating to its failure to cooperate during the Premier League investigation, which spanned four years. The body considered that City made efforts to hinder and delay the process.
The Premier League has not yet imposed a sanction. An independent commission must now determine the corresponding punishment, while Manchester City has already announced that it will appeal the verdict. The club assured that the decision contains errors of fact, principle and law and that it will continue to use all available means to defend its position.
Among the possible sanctions contemplated by the Premier League rules are a financial fine, a deduction of points and even expulsion from the competition. There is also the possibility that the case will have consequences on titles and classifications obtained during the period investigated, although any measure will have to be determined later.
The ruling marks a new chapter in one of the most important disciplinary processes in the history of English football. Manchester City was formally accused in 2023 of more than a hundred violations after an investigation that began years before. The independent commission hearing was held between September and December 2024.
Since the arrival of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan in 2008, City became one of the great dominators of English football. During that period they won eight Premier League titles, four FA Cups and seven League Cups, in addition to lifting the Champions League for the first time in 2023.
Now, the club will have to face the appeal process and wait for the decision on the sanction. The final resolution could have far-reaching sporting and economic consequences for Manchester City and for the Premier League itself.
