After years of uncertainty, Manchester City were reportedly found guilty on Friday afternoon of all but one of the 115 financial and operational charges against them, although an official statement on the decision remains eerily absent, even as the media spent the entire weekend in overdrive looking at the possible implications.
In a statement on Friday disputing the headlines, City said:
“The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality,” a spokesperson stated.
“As such Manchester City FC’s position remains consistent with the club’s statement of February 2023.
“The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis the Premier League board and executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair minded regulator, free from partisan influence.”
Should the club have been found guilty of the charges, don’t think this is the end of the tale – City have always strongly denied them and the latest reports suggest the drama is moving to the appeal stage.
In 2014 City paid a £49m fine for breaking UEFA’s financial fair play rules and in 2020 they were given a two-year European competition ban and fined €30m for breaking the rules again. The ban was overturned at the Court of Arbitration for Sport where City were cleared of disguising owner funding as sponsorship income.
That victory may give City fans hope that they can win again when their Premier League appeal is heard by a new three-person panel.
If the appeal goes against them, they will not be able to go to CAS but there is the strong possibility that City’s owners would turn to the High Court to clear their name.
In 2014 City paid a £49m fine for breaking UEFA’s financial fair play rules and in 2020 they were given a two-year European competition ban and fined €30m for breaking the rules again. The ban was overturned at the Court of Arbitration for Sport where City were cleared of disguising owner funding as sponsorship income.
The prospect of points deductions will also potentially open a Pandora’s Box, given the impact it will have on other teams in both the Premier League and Championship – could a club argue that they missed out on a title; European football; or been relegated as a result?
During the period under investigation (2009-2018) City won 8 trophies, including 3 Premier League titles.
In 2024 Everton and Nottingham Forest were both charged with breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) where clubs can lose a maximum of £105m over a 3 season period. Or £35m per campaign before facing sanctions.
Forest were docked 4 points and Everton 10 points (reduced to 6 on appeal). Everton were also ordered to pay Burnley £35m after the Lancashire club argued that the breach impacted their chances of staying in the Premier League.
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In 2018, Der Speigel in Germany published claims that the club had breached Financial Fair Play Rules. They included allegations that City had disguised income from its owners as sponsorship; and that some staff were being paid off-book. These would both reduce losses and make the club look more profitable than it potentially was.
This has been strongly denied by Manchester City.
However, it led to a formal investigation by Uefa, against which City appealed.
The Court of Administration found in 2019 that the appeal was inadmissible and a year later Uefa said it was banning the club from European competitions for 2 years and gave it a €30m fine.
City appealed and the ban was overturned.
The Premier League, however, continued its own investigation into alleged financial breaches and in 2023 charged Manchester City with 115 breaches.
A 10 week hearing started in September 2024 and a verdict was originally expected in 2025.
City have always maintained their innocence.
- 54 of the charges relate to failure to provide accurate financial information (2009/10 – 2017/18)
- 35 for failing to cooperate with the Premier League’s investigations (2018-2023)
- 14 to failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments between 2009/10 and 2017/18
- 7 for breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (2015/16 – 2017/18)
- 5 for failure to comply with a number of Uefa rules, including Financial Fair Play 2013/14-2017/18
Since the Abu Dhabi United Group—led by Sheikh Mansour—completed its takeover of Manchester City Football Club in September 2008, the club has undergone a massive transformation. Moving on from decades of mid-table inconsistency, City has established itself as an absolute superpower in global football.
Before the takeover, City had gone 35 seasons from their 1976 League Cup win without a major trophy. Since 2008, the club’s men’s first team has won 25+ major trophies, cementing its place as the most dominant English side of the modern era.
The City Football Group has also become a global forces, with clubs on every continent (bar antarctica), one of the world’s leading youth academies, and has become a major force in the regeneration of East Manchester, including through the recently opened, £300m Medlock Square development.
In 2014, during the previous UEFA investigation, City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak said he would “spend £30 million on the best 50 lawyers in the world” and sue UEFA for the next 10 years rather than lose the FFP case. In an open letter to City fans on Saturday he sounded just as determined as he was 12 years ago: “The Premier League process still has a long way to run and our confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began,” he said.
