Manchester City found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules across nine seasons

Manchester City have been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules across a nine-season period, an independent commission ruled after a hearing that concluded more than a year ago. The panel upheld all charges related to serious financial misconduct and the majority of charges concerning the club’s failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation. City strongly deny the charges and are expected to appeal the verdict, with a deadline of 2 October to do so.

The Premier League released a statement detailing four principal areas of wrongdoing. The commission found that City arranged ‘sham’ commercial contracts with a number of sponsors as part of a disguised funding scheme, in which those companies were only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees. The remainder was funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), the club’s owner. Separate ‘sham’ arrangements, also funded by ADUG, were used to record lower operating expenses than the club actually incurred, alongside a circular arrangement involving Fordham, an entity that purchased players’ image rights.

The purpose of these schemes, the commission concluded, was to artificially inflate City’s revenues and reduce their costs by more than £900 million during the affected period, allowing the club to appear compliant with financial regulations. As a consequence, City filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of their finances from both auditors and football regulators. The commission stated plainly that “by its conduct the club clearly intended to circumvent the PL Rules”.

The breaches meant City failed to accurately report income and expenditure under the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules and UEFA’s Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Rules. The commission also upheld three of the four alleged breaches relating to City’s duties of co-operation and utmost good faith during the League’s investigation.

The charges were originally brought by the Premier League against City in February 2023, covering alleged misconduct over a nine-season span. The scale of the findings represents one of the most significant disciplinary verdicts in English football history. A separate sentencing hearing will determine what sanctions, if any, are imposed — a process that could itself take months and is likely to be complicated further if City pursue an appeal.