Wright demands 'unprecedented punishment' as City found guilty of £900m financial fraud

Manchester City were found guilty on Tuesday of serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules across a nine-season period, with an independent commission ruling that the club had used ‘sham’ commercial deals to inflate revenue and reduce costs by more than £900m.

The Premier League’s statement confirmed City were guilty of all charges related to the financial misconduct, which included disguised funding schemes through which sponsors were only required to pay a portion of agreed fees — with the club artificially boosting its declared revenues in the process.

Speaking ahead of England’s Nations League fixture against the Czech Republic, former Arsenal striker and ITV pundit Ian Wright did not hold back in his assessment. “It’s cheating on an industrial scale,” Wright said. “It’s quite surreal seeing it written down like that. You can’t mention City without mentioning what’s going on because they were so great. I feel like an unprecedented punishment is required here. It’s a massive day for the Premier League — they’ve taken on a whole country.”

Roy Keane, also on punditry duty, described the verdict as bittersweet, acknowledging the damage it would inflict on the league’s global standing. “It’s very damaging for the league,” Keane said. “The brand of the Premier League is huge all over the world and it’s been fantastic, but for them to be caught cheating then they obviously deserve that punishment.”

Keane raised questions about what comes next, both in terms of the sanction and the psychological impact on City’s squad. “What punishment comes their way? What’s the mindset of the players going forward? They play Liverpool in a couple of weeks — what about the players that have been part of the problem over the last few years with the cheating? What happens going forward?”

Wright warned that the legal fallout from the verdict is likely to be prolonged and complicated. “It’s going to get so litigious now, I think it’s going to go on for so long,” he said. “It’s so sad.”

Manchester City released a statement maintaining their innocence following the verdict. The club’s formal response and any sentencing process are expected to extend the case considerably further.