The Premier League has announced that Manchester City has been found guilty of all charges related to financial rule breaches over a nine-season period. An independent committee also concluded that the club was guilty of the majority of charges related to its lack of cooperation with investigations.
The committee found that Manchester City used arrangements and contracts described as 'sham' with several of its business partners, alongside providing inaccurate accounts and concealing the club's true financial position from auditors and football regulators. According to the findings, these practices led to inflated revenues and reduced costs by more than £900 million during the period under investigation.
The committee indicated that if the financial information had been presented accurately, the club would have significantly breached the spending rules of the Premier League and UEFA. The main charges date back to the period from the 2009-2010 season to the 2017-2018 season.
Manchester City has announced its intention to appeal against the decision, stating that the ruling contains fundamental errors in law, principles, and facts, and that the decision is "unsafe". The issuance of a guilty verdict does not mean that the final penalty has been determined, as the case is still in the appeal stages before potential sanctions are set.
Premier League CEO Richard Masters stated that the independent decision "proves what happened at Manchester City during this period", adding that the club systematically breached league rules for nearly a decade, and reaffirming the association's commitment to pursue the case to its conclusion.
