Story summary
Manchester City has been found guilty of almost all (114 out of 115) charges related to breaching Premier League financial regulations, according to reports by The Athletic. The charges stem from an investigation that began in February 2023 and cover a period from 2009 to 2018. City has yet to confirm the verdict but maintains its case is still ongoing.
The offenses include providing inaccurate financial information, failing to disclose player and manager payments accurately, breaching UEFA’s financial fair play rules, and non-cooperation with Premier League investigations. The club faces potential punishments ranging from significant points deductions to suspension from competitions.
City plans to appeal the decision, which could extend legal proceedings for several months. Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp has previously welcomed any ruling that would see his team awarded a title if City’s three titles (2012-13, 2014-15, and 2017-18) are stripped due to the breaches. However, no sanctions have been finalized yet. The saga began in November 2018 when German outlet Der Spiegel published emails suggesting City had covered up true sources of income to comply with financial regulations. UEFA and the Premier League launched investigations shortly after these revelations.
Written for “Man City Premier League Charges Verdict” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 85 other(s) covering the same event.
And that word appears eight times in the independent commission's ruling published on Tuesday, which found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of financial rules, and all but one in relation to a failure to co-operate with the investigation.
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City → appear → investigation
The 40-page document makes fascinating reading.
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document → make → reading
It catalogues how the club's owners, Abu Dhabi United Group, knew from the 2009-10 season that there would be major overspends if the club was to reach the level they wanted to get to.
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they → catalogue → level
So, the ruling says, City found a way to boost sponsorship income.
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City → say → income
The report shows how the club's owners were topping up the value of the deals.
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owners → show → deals
The so-called Disguised Funding Scheme is the central plank in a series of charges that Manchester City have been found guilty of by the Premier League.
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City → call → League
This scheme managed to hide more than £830m of sponsorship funding, while other devices hid £90m in expenses.
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devices → manage → expenses
We break down the key findings from the document.
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We → break → document
The problem became apparent very quick for the new owners
Manchester City were bought by Abu Dhabi investors in 2008 but, the document says, their predicament had become clear from the start of the 2009-10 season.
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predicament → become → season
These were ambitious new owners who did not just want the club to be competitive.
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club → want → ?
They wanted to have the best players and be winners.
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They → want → players
That was not going to be possible without spending more money.
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That → go → money
Total losses for the 2009-10 campaign were going to exceed what was, at that time, the record single-season financial loss by a Premier League member club.
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what → go → club
According to the ruling, that was a record that the City owners were adamant the club should not break
And not only that.
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club → accord → that
The club knew they would likely continue to suffer large losses for at least the following five seasons.
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they → know → seasons
This was when both Uefa and the Premier League were about to bring in financial fair play rules.
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Uefa → bring → rules
This was clearly going to be a problem.
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This → go → ?
To address this the only option was to significantly increase commercial revenue - and reduce the reliance on their owners.
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option → address → owners
Sham contracts and the disguised funding scheme
In early 2010, Manchester City took the first steps to get the additional funding into the club.
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City → take → club
City would enter into sponsorship agreements which were record amounts and were significantly above fair market value.
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which → enter → value
It is referred to as the 'disguised funding scheme'.
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It → refer → scheme
This is how it worked, according to the ruling.
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it → work → ruling
The sponsorship deals were split into two parts: a base fee, and a tagged sum.
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deals → split → parts
The sponsors would pay the base fee.
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sponsors → pay → fee
And the club's owners would pay the tagged sum.
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owners → pay → sum
Ergo, the sponsors would not have to pay the full value of the contract.
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sponsors → have → contract
The club's owners would pay the vast majority, which enabled them to invest in players.
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which → pay → players
This, the document states, "gave the misleading impression to third parties (including regulators and its auditors) in its financial statements and any required FFP returns that its commercial revenues from sponsorship agreements were far, far greater than was in fact the case".
But the club also knew they had to be nimble.
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they → state → fact
From time to time the disguised funding scheme would be tweaked to "assist with continued concealment" and "reduce the likelihood of difficult questions being asked".
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scheme → tweak → questions
What did this all mean in reality?
Commercial income from sponsors totalled £949.94m in the seasons from 2009-10 to 2017-18.
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income → mean → 2017
The ruling says only £119.25 million represented base fees.
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million → say → fees
A total of £830.69 million represented tagged sums - the amount paid by the club's owners.
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total → represent → owners
Man City have denied the claims and say the Premier League had misunderstood the sponsorship agreements.
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League → deny → agreements
However, the panel said it "rejected that explanation as untrue".
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it → say → explanation
It said it was "concocted well after the event in an attempt to obscure and conceal the realities of the disguised funding scheme".
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it → say → scheme
An example given of the disguised funding scheme in action: plugging an unexpected shortfall in May 2013.
Less than a week before the end of that 2012-13 financial year the club knew they were £9.9m short of complying with Uefa's financial rules.
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they → give → rules
In a matter of days, without sponsors even being approached, a number of modified sponsor agreements were generated which increased recorded sponsorship fees to pay bonuses for events that had already taken place and to pay for a US tour.
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that → approach → tour
The feared Uefa FFP shortfall was thus "plugged".
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shortfall → fear → ?
In 2012, City launched what it called Project Longbow.
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it → launch → what
The ruling does say many of the strands of Project Longbow were genuine, and legitimate attempts to achieve the aims of boostings revenues and reducing operating losses.
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many → say → losses
…and 26 more, not listed.
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