Manchester City found guilty of financial breaches across nine Premier League seasons

An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over nine seasons between 2009/2010 and 2017/2018.

The club was also found guilty of three of four charges concerning its failure to co-operate with the Premier League’s investigation, which lasted four years. The findings confirm reports published by British newspapers two days earlier.

According to a statement released by the Premier League on Tuesday, the commission concluded that Manchester City used “false” commercial agreements with several partners. The arrangements did not reflect the actual deals between the parties and were intended to artificially increase the club’s revenue and reduce its reported costs.

The commission said the club submitted inaccurate financial information, concealed its true financial position from auditors and football regulators, and significantly breached spending limits imposed by the Premier League and UEFA.

More than £900m in disputed arrangements

The commission found that sponsors paid only part of the value of certain commercial agreements, with the remaining sums funded by Abu Dhabi United Group for Investment and Development (ADUG), the club’s owner.

Other arrangements funded by ADUG were allegedly used to record lower operating costs than Manchester City’s actual expenditure. The commission also described as “false” an agreement with Fordham, which bought image rights relating to the club’s players. That arrangement was also funded by ADUG.

It concluded that the purpose of the agreements was to increase Manchester City’s reported income and reduce its costs by more than £900m during the period under investigation, allowing the club to appear compliant with financial regulations.

The commission said the club’s accounts therefore failed to present a true picture of its revenue and expenditure, and that Manchester City had shown a clear “intention to circumvent the Premier League rules”.

The club was found to have failed to report its income and spending accurately under the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules, as well as UEFA’s club licensing and financial fair play regulations.

Had the relevant agreements been recorded accurately, the commission said, Manchester City would have breached both the Premier League’s and UEFA’s spending limits by a very substantial margin.

Penalty has yet to be decided

The commission also determined that Manchester City had made “concerted efforts to halt and frustrate” the Premier League’s investigation, upholding three of the four charges relating to the club’s duty to co-operate and act in good faith.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: “The core decision establishes the facts about what happened at Manchester City during this period and shows how the club systematically breached the league’s rules for almost a decade.”

He described the case and the decision as “the most important in the history of the Premier League”, but said key matters, including the penalty, remained unresolved.

The Premier League said the finding of breaches did not determine the punishment. Sanctions will be considered at a separate private and confidential hearing before the independent commission, with the outcome published when permitted under the league’s rules.

Manchester City have the right to appeal, with Friday 2 October set as the deadline. The Premier League has published a redacted version of the commission’s core decision and said further annexes would be released as soon as the process allows.