Premier League set to avoid £4.5bn broadcaster refunds after Man City found guilty of 114 breaches

The Premier League is set to escape billions in broadcaster compensation after an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of 114 out of 115 financial rule breaches, according to a report by the Daily Mail.

Concerns had been raised that rights holders who paid into the league’s £4.5 billion broadcasting deal in 2018 — the final year covered by the Premier League’s seven-year investigation into City — could seek reimbursement, citing questions over the integrity of the competition during that period. However, the likelihood of such demands has been characterised as “highly unlikely.”

It has also been suggested that subscription numbers could decline depending on the sanction handed to City, though that outcome too has been described as improbable.

City have until Friday to appeal the guilty verdicts. The Daily Mail also reported on Thursday that the club intends to mount a robust defence, claiming to hold “irrefutable evidence” in the form of bank statements and witness accounts, and that they plan to call on the Abu Dhabi government to support their case.

The Premier League announced this week that the independent commission had ruled City guilty across a nine-season spell, finding that the club had “arranged sham contracts” and relied “on sham agreements with others to artificially inflate” the true state of their finances. City were also found to have concealed the true extent of their financial position from auditors and football regulators, and to have committed serious breaches of both Premier League and UEFA spending regulations.

In an official statement issued in City’s name, the club said they were “both disappointed and surprised” by the commission’s findings, adding that they consider themselves “innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League” and that “a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists” to support that position.