Manchester City CEO brands Premier League financial verdict a 'conspiracy theory' in leaked staff video

Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has called the independent commission’s verdict finding the club guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules a “conspiracy theory”, in a video message sent to staff that has since been leaked.

The commission, which handed down its judgement on Tuesday, ruled that City had “overstated [its income] by over £830m” across the nine-year period covered by the investigation and had arranged “sham commercial deals” with a number of sponsors. It also fiercely criticised witnesses who had “given evidence at the hearing that they knew to be untrue and so had been dishonest.”

Soriano, however, maintained the club’s innocence in unequivocal terms. “The whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation — that the owner’s personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi,” he said in the video. “This is just not true. Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League commission that shows it could not happen and that it did not happen. This includes bank statements, money transfers, witnesses and everything necessary to categorically demonstrate the money did not come from the owner.”

Soriano went on to argue that every other charge against the club flowed from that central allegation. “Every other false charge that has been thrown at us comes from that simple, central and completely false accusation,” he said. “Surprisingly for us and our lawyers, after nearly two years the commission has issued an opinion that supports the Premier League’s conspiracy theory. To do so, the opinion had to ignore the extensive evidence provided by the club in order to reach a conclusion that is clearly wrong.”

He confirmed that City’s legal team would mount a formal challenge. “Our lawyers will now file an appeal that sets out the opinion contains clear, material errors of law, principle and fact and that it is unsafe.”

City have until Friday 2 October to lodge that appeal. Sanctions have yet to be determined by the commission.