Manchester City appeal Premier League guilty verdict over £900m financial misconduct findings

Manchester City filed a comprehensive appeal against their Premier League guilty verdict on Thursday 1 October 2026, hours before a deadline that would have made the independent commission’s findings final.

The Premier League confirmed earlier that week that the commission had found City guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of its financial rules across a nine-season period, as well as the majority of charges concerning a failure to co-operate with the league’s investigation. The club were first charged in 2023 over alleged conduct between 2009 and 2018.

According to the Premier League, the commission determined that City had “artificially inflated” revenues and reduced costs by more than £900m over nine years in order to “appear to comply with financial rules”, and that the club had filed “misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances.”

In their appeal statement, City rejected those conclusions in full. “The Club’s firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe,” the club said. “The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions.”

City added that they would “continue to respect due process” but said they were “necessarily restricted” in what they could say publicly until all proceedings are complete.

The appeal was widely anticipated. City have maintained their innocence throughout the three years since the charges were first brought, and the club’s statement described their submission as a “comprehensive Appeal against the opinion of the Premier League Commission.”

The potential penalties, should the appeal ultimately fail, are severe. Sanctions that have been widely discussed include points deductions, transfer embargoes, substantial fines, the stripping of titles won during the relevant period, and even demotion through the football pyramid — though no punishment has been formally proposed at this stage.

Former City chairman David Bernstein added to the pressure on the club’s current ownership, telling talkSPORT: “I can’t think of a sanction severe enough.” Bernstein suggested those at the top of the club’s hierarchy should resign.

The appeal process means the case will now be heard by a separate independent panel, with no timeline for a resolution yet confirmed by either party.