Man City found guilty of all Premier League financial charges

Manchester City were found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of Premier League financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, the Premier League confirmed on 29 September 2026. An independent commission found the club arranged "sham contracts" with commercial partners as part of a disguised funding scheme of £830.69m. The club denies wrongdoing and has until 2 October to appeal.bbc.co.uk+1

The ruling matters because it establishes, after a four-year investigation and a 42-day hearing, that one of the Premier League's most successful clubs systematically broke the spending rules approved by all clubs. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the decision "establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period" and called the case "the most significant in Premier League history". Sanctions remain undecided.

What the commission found

The commission's report said the charges "concerned well over 100 alleged individual breaches of Premier League Rules across four broad charge categories". It found the club guilty of all charges except one relating to non-cooperation with the Premier League investigation. The report described "deliberate or reckless conduct intended to circumvent the Premier League rules" and said the scheme let City avoid recording what would have been the largest single-season loss in Premier League history in 2009-10.

The mechanism worked through sponsorship deals that did not reflect reality. The commission found that companies paid only part of the agreed sponsorship fees, with the remainder funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd, which owned the club. The relevant agreements "were found to be shams, or at minimum did not reflect their economic substance", the commission said.

The scale of the inflated figures is specific. City recorded £360m in sponsor fees in the three seasons they won the Premier League — 2011-12, 2013-14 and 2017-18. Only £43m of that was legitimate; the rest came from the owners and was disguised. The commission said the schemes artificially inflated revenues and reduced costs by more than £900m during the affected period.

How the scheme worked

The club also filed misstated accounts, concealing the true state of its finances from auditors and football regulators, the commission found. Had the agreements been reported accurately, City would have breached both the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules and UEFA's Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Rules "by a very substantial amount". The commission concluded the club "clearly intended to circumvent the PL Rules".

On co-operation, the commission upheld three of four alleged breaches, finding City "made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the PL investigation". The investigation began in December 2018, a formal complaint was issued in February 2023, and the independent commission's 42-day hearing concluded in December 2024. The index of evidence alone ran to more than 750 pages, with the core bundle running to many tens of thousands of pages.

Manchester City rejected the findings. The club said it was "disappointed and surprised" and that "a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions". It said the opinion contains "clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe", and that it had respected due process for eight years on the basis the Premier League would act as an impartial regulator.

What happens next

The Premier League said sanctions will be addressed separately at a further hearing before the independent commission, which will remain private and confidential. Available sanctions include fines, points deductions and other sporting sanctions. For comparison, Everton were docked six points, reduced from 10 on appeal, and then two points in separate cases, while Nottingham Forest were deducted four points for profit and sustainability breaches.

Culture, Media and Sport secretary Lisa Nandy MP said the report was "incredibly serious" and "incredibly stark", adding it was causing concern for Manchester City fans and all Premier League fans. The Premier League's Board intends for the entire process, including appeals and publication of relevant decisions, to conclude as soon as possible.

Manchester City must decide by Friday 2 October whether to appeal the commission's findings. The sanction hearing date has not been announced and will be held privately. The Premier League resumes after the international break on 11 October, when Chelsea travel to Liverpool and could go six points clear at the top of the table.