Rizky Amelia
Manchester City have been found guilty of every charge of serious financial rule-breaking brought against them by the Premier League, the league confirmed in a statement on Tuesday. The ruling, delivered by an independent commission, covers alleged breaches committed between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons — a nine-season span that represents the most turbulent and transformative era in the club's modern history.
The charges were first brought in February 2023, following a four-year investigation into the club's financial conduct. That inquiry examined how City, then owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group, reported revenue and structured agreements with commercial partners during a period when the club rose from mid-table also-rans to Premier League champions.
According to the Premier League, the independent commission determined that City "arranged 'sham' contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners." The league's statement described arrangements designed to mask the real nature of those business relationships and the true sources of income flowing into the club.
The commission further concluded that City employed schemes intended to artificially inflate the club's revenues while simultaneously reducing its costs, doing so by more than 900 million pounds across the affected period. The stated purpose of these manoeuvres, the league said, was to make the club appear to be in compliance with financial rules it was in fact breaching. In other words, the finding suggests a deliberate effort to present a financial picture that differed substantially from reality.
Richard Masters, the chief executive of the Premier League, responded to the verdict by framing it as a defining moment for the league's enforcement regime. "The core decision … details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade," Masters said. His choice of the word "systematically" signals that the commission did not view the breaches as isolated or administrative errors, but as a sustained pattern of conduct spanning multiple seasons.
Masters also made clear that the process is not yet finished. "There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches," he said. That unresolved question — punishment — is now the central issue hanging over the club, the league, and the wider English game.
Possible sanctions under the Premier League's rulebook are wide-ranging. They could include substantial fines, transfer restrictions, points deductions, or, in the most extreme scenario, expulsion from the competition. The severity of the commission's findings — a nine-season scheme involving hundreds of millions of pounds — will inevitably shape arguments over proportionality when the sanctioning phase begins. Any punishment is also likely to be contested through the same appeal channels City have already signalled they intend to use.
Manchester City responded swiftly and defiantly to the ruling. In a statement, the club said it was "disappointed and surprised" by the commission's opinion. The phrasing is notable: "surprised" suggests City believed the evidence presented during proceedings would lead the commission to a different conclusion.
The club insisted it had done nothing wrong. "The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case," City said. The club's language — "irrefutable evidence" — indicates it intends to challenge not merely the interpretation of the facts but the factual findings themselves.
City also confirmed it would exercise its legal options. "Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe," the club said. The word "unsafe" is significant in legal terms, implying that the verdict is vulnerable to being overturned because of flaws in how it was reached. City's appeal will likely focus on both procedural fairness and the substance of the commission's reasoning.
The case has been one of the most closely watched in the history of English football, in part because of its scale. City were charged with more than 100 individual breaches, and the investigation stretched over four years. Because the alleged conduct covers nine seasons, the potential consequences touch on title races, Champions League qualification, and the competitive balance of the league across an entire decade.
The verdict also raises broader questions about financial regulation in football. The Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules exist to prevent clubs from spending beyond their means and to preserve competitive integrity. When a club is found to have circumvented those rules for nearly a decade, it inevitably casts doubt on whether the enforcement system is equipped to detect sophisticated financial arrangements in real time.
For City, the immediate priority is the appeal. The club's position is that the commission made errors of law, principle, and fact, and it will now attempt to persuade an appellate body of that view. Until that process concludes, the sporting consequences — including any points deduction or transfer ban — remain uncertain.
For the Premier League, the ruling is both a vindication of its investigative efforts and a test of its credibility. Masters' comments suggest the league intends to press for meaningful sanctions, but the ultimate outcome will depend on the independent process and any subsequent appeal. The coming months are therefore likely to be dominated by legal argument rather than footballing matters.
City's supporters, meanwhile, are left to digest a ruling that challenges the legitimacy of the club's most successful era. The club has consistently denied wrongdoing and says it possesses evidence supporting its position. Whether that evidence prevails on appeal will determine not only City's punishment but also how history judges a period of dominance now clouded by one of the most consequential disciplinary cases the English game has ever seen.
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