Official! Premier League finds Man City guilty on all charges

The biggest financial case in Premier League history has reached a landmark verdict.

Details: The Premier League has officially confirmed that an independent Commission found Manchester City guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of the competition's financial rules over a nine-season period from 2009/10 to 2017/18. The Commission also upheld the majority of the allegations concerning the club's failure to cooperate with the League's investigation — three of the four alleged cooperation breaches were proven.

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According to the Commission's findings, City arranged sham contracts with several commercial partners and relied on other sham agreements to artificially increase the club's revenues and reduce its costs. The schemes were found to have distorted the club's financial position by more than £900 million during the affected period.

• Manchester City filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from auditors and football regulators.
• The Commission concluded that the club would have been significantly in breach of both Premier League and UEFA spending limits had the relevant agreements been reported accurately.
• During the League's investigation, City committed multiple breaches of its duties of cooperation and utmost good faith.

The punishment has not yet been determined. A separate hearing will decide the sanction, with Premier League rules allowing the Commission broad discretion, including fines, points deductions and other sporting sanctions. Manchester City also have the right to appeal the findings and have until Friday, October 2, to do so.

The Premier League began investigating Manchester City in December 2018 and formally referred the case to an independent Commission in February 2023. The Commission later held a 42-day hearing that concluded in December 2024.

It is worth noting that during the 2009/10 to 2017/18 period covered by the case, Manchester City won three Premier League titles — in 2011/12, 2013/14 and 2017/18.

Reminder: Will Man City lose their Premier League titles? The answer is already known