Manchester City have been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules after an independent commission concluded that the club used “sham” commercial agreements to disguise more than £830 million in funding, inflate revenues and reduce costs between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
The Premier League confirmed that City had been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of its financial rules during the period.
An independent commission found that the club arranged “sham contracts” with several commercial partners and relied on sham agreements to artificially inflate its revenues and reduce its costs.
Manchester City have continued to deny wrongdoing throughout the case and now has until October 2 to lodge an appeal.
The development followed reports last week that City had been found guilty of breaking the majority of the 115 financial rules it was accused of breaching. The Premier League published a redacted version of the independent commission’s report on Tuesday.
The commission said the charges involved more than 100 alleged individual breaches across four broad categories.
It found City guilty of all charges except one relating to non-cooperation with the Premier League investigation.
The commission also found that “a number of important Club witnesses gave false evidence in key respects” and that some knowingly provided untrue and dishonest evidence.
The sham commercial deals formed part of what the commission described as a “disguised funding scheme” worth £830.69 million.
City recorded £360 million in sponsor fees across the three seasons in which it won the Premier League — 2011-12, 2013-14 and 2017-18.
However, the commission found that only £43 million of the sponsorship income was legitimate, with the remainder coming from the club’s owners and being disguised through commercial arrangements.
“The relevant sponsorship agreements were found to be shams, or at minimum did not reflect their economic substance,” the commission said.
The report described the conduct as “deliberate or reckless” and intended to circumvent Premier League rules.
It said the scheme allowed City to avoid recording what would otherwise have been the largest single-season loss in Premier League history in 2009-10.
The commission highlighted the scale of evidence considered during the case, noting that the index alone ran to more than 750 pages while the core bundle contained tens of thousands of pages.
City are owned by Abu Dhabi United Group, ADUG, which took over the club in 2008.
Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, said the decision established the facts of what happened at Manchester City during the period under investigation.
He said the findings detailed how the club systematically broke Premier League rules for nearly a decade.
Also Read: Controversy trails VAR error in Manchester derby result
Masters said the verdict also vindicated the Premier League’s decision to pursue the case, despite the lengthy and difficult process.
He said the league had a responsibility to ensure that rules approved by the clubs themselves were upheld to protect the integrity and competitiveness of the competition.
The Premier League said City’s sanction would be addressed separately in a further hearing before the independent commission.
The league’s rules require the sanction hearing to remain private and confidential.
Lisa Nandy, the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, told the BBC that the report was “incredibly stark” and said it had caused concern among Manchester City and Premier League fans.
David Bernstein, who served as Manchester City chairman between 1998 and 2003, said the verdict placed the credibility of the Premier League at stake.
Bernstein said the commission’s findings about false documentation and conduct over several years were serious.
He also questioned whether some of the allegations could require referral to authorities outside the Premier League if they were upheld following the appeal.
Bernstein argued that any eventual sanction should extend beyond a financial penalty, saying financial punishment alone might have limited impact on the club’s Abu Dhabi owners.
He said that if the findings stood after an appeal, City should face a serious sporting penalty.
Manchester City rejected the commission’s findings.
In a statement, the club said it was “disappointed and surprised” by the commission’s opinion and maintained that it was innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League.
The club said it had a comprehensive body of evidence supporting its position and would pursue all appropriate regulatory and legal avenues.
City said the Premier League process remained ongoing and that it would use the available appeal avenues because it believed the commission’s opinion contained material errors of law, principle and fact.
The club also said it had respected due process for eight years and expected the Premier League Board and executive to act as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator.
Manchester City added that it was restricted in what it could say publicly while future proceedings remained incomplete.
The club’s Chief Executive Officer, Ferran Soriano, initially declined to comment when approached by BBC Sport.
He later issued a video message to club staff in which he criticised what he called a “Premier League conspiracy theory” and insisted the club would ultimately be vindicated.
This keeps the substance and detail of the original while making the opening paragraph more comprehensive and distinct.
BBC Sports
