Manchester City Found Guilty of Charges Over Premier League Financial Rule

An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules over a nine-season period, and of the majority of the charges relating to its failure to co-operate with the League's investigation, the League announced on 29 September 2026. The club says it is innocent, disputes the findings and will appeal.

No sanction has been decided. The League says that will be dealt with at a separate hearing, and that Manchester City has until Friday 2 October to lodge an appeal against the findings themselves.

What did the commission find?

The commission found Manchester City guilty of all charges relating to the League's financial rules between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons, and of the majority of the co-operation charges. The Premier League published its conclusions in a statement on 29 September.

According to the League's statement, the commission found that Manchester City "arranged 'sham' contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on 'sham' agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club's revenues and reduce its costs".

The statement describes the mechanism as a disguised funding scheme. Sponsor companies "were only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees", with the remainder funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Ltd, the club's owner. The League says further arrangements funded by the same owner allowed the club to record lower operating expenses than it actually incurred, along with what the statement calls a "'sham' circular arrangement with Fordham, an entity that purchased the club's players' image rights".

The League puts the combined effect at "more than £900 million" across the period, and states that the commission found the club "filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators".

The Guardian reports that the commission valued the disguised funding scheme at £830.6 million over the nine seasons and found costs hidden by a further £70 million. The Guardian adds that the commission found image-rights deals with players and the then manager Roberto Mancini were part of the arrangements. The BBC gives the funding figure as £830.69 million.

The statement quotes the commission's own conclusion that "by its conduct the club clearly intended to circumvent the PL Rules". It adds that, had the relevant agreements been reported accurately, the club would have been in breach of both Premier League and UEFA spending limits "by a very substantial amount".

On a separate set of charges concerning the club's conduct during the investigation, three of the four alleged breaches of its duties of co-operation and utmost good faith were upheld, Reuters reports. One was not. The League says the commission concluded the club had "made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the PL investigation".

What has been decided, and what has not?

The findings are decided. The sanction, the outcome of any appeal and any effect on past results are not.

What did the Premier League say?

Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, said in the statement: "The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade."

Masters said the outcome "vindicates the Premier League's decision to pursue this case against Manchester City" and that "while the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently".

He described the case as "the most significant in Premier League history" and said that "there are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches".

What has Manchester City said?

Manchester City issued its own statement on the same day, rejecting the findings in full.

"Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today," the club said.

"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. The Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums."

On the appeal, the club said it "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 statement added that the club had "diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence", and that it is "restricted in what it can say further until all future proceedings are complete".

Chief executive Ferran Soriano also sent a video message to staff and players, which Sky Sports News obtained and which Reuters, the BBC and the Associated Press also report. In Sky's transcript he says: "the whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation: that the owner's personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi. This is just not true. Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League commission that shows that it could not happen and that it did not happen."

He describes the commission's opinion as one that "supports the Premier League's conspiracy theory", and says: "Remember, we have been here before. In 2020, we were also wrongly ruled against for many of the same issues. We appealed to an independent body, CAS, and we won." The Guardian confirms that UEFA's punishment of the club was largely overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2020. Sky notes that the message refers to a "Premier League commission" and clarifies that the body was an independent commission.

Was Man City found guilty on 114 of 115 charges?

The League's statement does not give a single count, so this piece does not repeat one. A figure of 114 out of 115 circulated widely on social media in the days around the verdict, but the sources that were read for this report describe it differently.

The League says all charges relating to the financial rules and the majority of the co-operation charges were upheld. Reuters puts the co-operation figure at three of four, and the BBC says the club was found guilty of all charges except one relating to non-co-operation. The Associated Press calls it "almost all" of the 115 charges. The BBC quotes the commission's report as describing the charges as concerning "well over 100 alleged individual breaches of Premier League rules across four broad charge categories", and records that the League charged the club with 115 breaches in February 2023.

How did the case reach this point?

The timeline draws on the Premier League's notes to editors and on the BBC's chronology.

• November 2018: Football Leaks allegations are published by Der Spiegel (BBC)

• December 2018: the Premier League begins its investigation into Manchester City (League)

• February 2020: UEFA announces a two-year European ban and a €30m fine (BBC)

• July 2020: the European ban is overturned on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (BBC)

• February 2023: the League issues a complaint under Section W of its rules, described by the BBC as 115 breaches (League, BBC)

• December 2024: a 42-day hearing before the independent commission concludes (League, Guardian)

• 25 September 2026: reports emerge that a verdict has been reached (BBC)

• 29 September 2026: the commission's core decision is published in redacted form (League)

The commission addressed the time taken to deliver its decision, writing that "it has taken us much longer than we would have wished, and much longer than we had anticipated would be the case when the hearing concluded, to produce our Decision. That is regrettable." It noted that the evidence before it included verbatim transcripts running to roughly 7,000 pages.

The League says a redacted version of the core decision has been published, that the award also includes a large number of appendices, and that it is "committed to publishing as soon as it is able". It says the commission ruled, and an appeal board confirmed, that the decision is a final award.

What have others said?

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Channel 5 News, as reported by Sky Sports: "I don't want to preempt any kind of appeal process, and they are entitled to a fair hearing." Speaking to the BBC, she said: "We need to see the investigation concluded swiftly and fairly, but swiftly particularly because we need to uphold the integrity of the game."

Reuters reports that European Football Clubs chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi reserved judgment on the case. Sports-law barrister Yasin Patel told Reuters he expected City to fight "with all their legal might".

What happens next?

Two processes follow, on the League's account.

The appeal. Manchester City has until Friday 2 October to exercise its right to appeal the findings, and has said it will. The League's notes say an appeal is heard by an Appeal Board of three members, and Sky Sports reports that it would be a new three-person body under Section W of the Premier League's rules. Sky adds that City could not go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport as it did in the UEFA case, but could take the League to the High Court if it felt the process was conducted unfairly. The Guardian reports that the appeal is expected to run alongside the sanctions hearing.

The sanction. The League's statement says that now the charges have been proved, "the issue of sanction will be addressed separately in a further hearing with the independent Commission", and that the hearing "will remain private and confidential until such a time as publication of the outcome is permitted". No date has been given. Asked by Reuters whether an appeal would automatically suspend any sanction, a League representative said they could not "get into the process" because of confidentiality.

The Premier League Board says its intention is that the full process, including any appeals and the publication of relevant decisions, "is concluded as soon as possible".

Can Man City lose titles, be relegated or be expelled?

None of these has been decided. The League's statement does not mention titles, and the sanction is for the independent commission to set at its separate hearing.

Sky Sports reports that the commission's options include a fine, a points deduction or expulsion from the Premier League, and explains that the commission cannot relegate a club by a set number of divisions: the only routes to the Championship are expulsion or a points deduction large enough to bring relegation. Reuters notes that a significant punishment could affect past and future title races. Because the case is unprecedented, Sky says there is little guidance for the commission, and the Guardian says there is no direct precedent given the scale. The Guardian adds that UEFA's earlier case is unlikely to be revisited because of a five-year limit on its disciplinary proceedings.

Are Man City still playing?

Yes. The League's statement announces no change to Manchester City's standing, and the club's fixtures are still scheduled. After five matches, the Premier League table shows City first on 15 points, with five wins from five, 13 goals scored and five conceded. The live table and City's club page carry the current figures.

Their next match is at Liverpool on Sunday 11 October, kicking off at 21:15 Nepal Standard Time at Anfield, and it is listed on Kantipur Max HD. Every kickoff time in Nepal is on the fixtures page. For background on the club before the verdict, read how Manchester City are adapting after Pep Guardiola.