Manchester City have been found guilty of all but one of the 115 charges they faced for alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules, according to reports citing anonymous sources briefed on the matter.
The sanctions have not yet been determined. City are expected to appeal the verdict.
The club was charged in February 2023 and referred to an independent commission over alleged breaches said to have taken place between 2009 and 2018. A ten-week hearing began on 16 September 2024.
The 115 charges relate to Premier League financial rules and break down as follows: 54 counts of failure to provide accurate financial information from 2009-10 to 2017-18; 14 counts of failure to provide accurate details of player and manager payments over the same period; five counts of failure to comply with UEFA's financial fair play rules between 2013-14 and 2017-18; seven counts of breaching Premier League profit and sustainability rules from 2015-16 to 2017-18; and 35 counts of failure to cooperate with Premier League investigations between December 2018 and February 2023.
The charges stem from leaked documents published by German news magazine Der Spiegel in November 2018. Emails purportedly sent between senior City executives alleged the club had inflated sponsorship revenue from UAE state-controlled airline Etihad and telecommunications firm Etisalat by disguising direct investment from Sheikh Mansour's Abu Dhabi United Group as sponsorship income. This, it was alleged, was a means of circumventing financial fair play rules introduced by UEFA in 2011 and profit and sustainability rules brought in by the Premier League in 2012.
Separate documents claimed to show off-the-books payments to then-manager Roberto Mancini via consultancy fees from a club in Abu Dhabi. It was also alleged that players received payments that were not fully recorded in official accounts.
City denied the charges and refused to comment on Der Spiegel's revelations at the time, stating the leaked emails had been obtained illegally and represented "an attempt to damage the club's reputation."
A club spokesperson said following the reported verdict: "The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality. As such, Manchester City FC's position remains consistent with the club's statement of February 2023. The club have diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League board and executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence."
City have also insisted there is a "comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence" to prove their innocence.
The club previously faced a two-year ban from European competition imposed by UEFA, which was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in July 2020. The court found that most of the alleged breaches of overstating sponsorship revenue were either not established or time-barred. No such time limitation clause exists in the Premier League case.
Potential sanctions could include points deductions, financial penalties, title stripping, and in the most severe scenario, relegation from the Premier League. Other clubs could also seek compensation if it is determined that City gained an unfair competitive advantage.
A severe punishment would raise further questions about the future of the club's playing squad. Everton and Nottingham Forest both received points deductions during the 2023-24 season for single breaches of profit and sustainability rules.
Since their takeover by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2008, City have won ten Premier League titles, eight of them in the past 15 seasons, as well as their first and only Champions League title in 2023. The club won seven domestic trophies during the period covered by the alleged offences.
The case is not yet concluded. An appeal process is expected to follow, meaning a final resolution remains some way off.
