The Premier League has found Manchester City guilty of almost all of the 115 charges of breaching its financial rules in a damning verdict presented by the top flight of football in England.
asserted
City → find → England
The league said City broke its rules from 2009 to 2018, including by using “sham” commercial contracts “to artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than 900 million pounds [$1.2bn]” of secret funding from its Abu Dhabi-based owners.
asserted
City → say → owners
4Man City found guilty on almost all 115 Premier League charges: Report
asserted
City → find → charges
- list 2 of 4Timeline: Man City’s Premier League financial charges to reported verdict
- list 3 of 4What next for Man City as fallout from 115 charges rumbles – all to know
- list 4 of 4Manchester City face ‘drastic’ sanctions, says club’s former chairman
It added that the commission had found City used schemes during the affected period to appear to comply with financial rules.
asserted
City → report → rules
“This disciplinary case and this decision are the most significant in Premier League history,” said Richard Masters, the league’s chief executive.
asserted
Masters → say → history
City, current Premier League leaders, could face punishments ranging from a fine to expulsion.
uncertain
City → face → expulsion
The club denies wrongdoing and says it will appeal the verdict.
asserted
it → deny → verdict
Here’s what we know about the charges, the verdict and possible sanctions:
What was the Premier League’s verdict on Man City’s rule breach?
asserted
verdict → ’ → breach
Guilty on every count barring one, which was a specific failure to cooperate with the Premier League’s investigation during a portion of the proceedings.
asserted
which → bar → proceedings
City cooperated and were found guilty.
asserted
City → cooperate → ?
The Premier League’s independent commission found City guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of financial rules across nine seasons, from 2009-10 to 2017-18.
asserted
City → find → 2017
League boss Masters said the ruling showed City “systematically broke Premier League rules for nearly a decade”.
asserted
City → say → decade
City, which denies any wrongdoing, said it was “disappointed and surprised” by the commission’s opinion.
asserted
it → deny → opinion
“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,” it said.
asserted
it → make → case
City CEO Ferran Soriano called the verdict “a single false accusation” and a “Premier League conspiracy theory”.
asserted
Soriano → call → verdict
Sponsorship deals that hid where City’s money came from.
asserted
money → hide → where
The commission found City arranged sham commercial deals with several sponsors, who only had to pay part of the relevant sponsorship fees, as part of a “disguised funding scheme”, the league said.
asserted
league → find → scheme
The remainder was funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
asserted
which → fund → club
ADUG further funded a “sham” arrangement that enabled the club to show lower operating expenses than those it actually incurred, as well as a “sham” circular arrangement with Fordham, an entity that acquired the club’s players’ image rights, which was funded by ADUG.
asserted
which → fund → ADUG
As a result, the club filed misstated accounts and hid its true finances from auditors and regulators.
asserted
club → file → auditors
“By its conduct, the club clearly intended to circumvent” the rules, the commission said.
asserted
commission → intend → rules
It is the total by which City’s schemes distorted its accounts.
asserted
schemes → distort → accounts
The arrangements inflated revenue and reduced costs by more than 900 million pounds over the nine seasons, so the club appeared to comply with financial rules, the league said.
asserted
league → inflate → rules
Of that, more than 830 million pounds ($1.1bn) was secret funding from City’s Abu Dhabi owners disguised as sponsorship.
asserted
pounds → disguise → sponsorship
Had City reported accurately, they would have broken spending limits “by a very substantial amount”, the commission found.
asserted
commission → report → amount
What sanctions could Man City face?
Anything from a fine to expulsion.
uncertain
City → face → expulsion
Under Rule W64 of the Premier League handbook, the commission can fine a club, deduct points or expel it from the league.
asserted
commission → fine → league
A clause allowing it to “make such other order as it thinks fit” also leaves stripping titles open in theory.
asserted
it → allow → theory
The same commission will set the sanction at a separate, private hearing.
asserted
commission → set → hearing
When will Man City’s appeal be heard?
asserted
appeal → hear → ?
No date has been set.
asserted
date → set → ?
City, which called the findings “unsafe” and pledged to be “relentless” in clearing its name, must appeal by Friday.
asserted
which → call → Friday
A new three-person panel will hear it.
asserted
panel → hear → it
City cannot go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but could challenge the process’s fairness in England’s High Court, according to British media reports.
uncertain
City → go → reports
If sanctions are applied before the appeal is heard, City could be relegated only to have the verdict overturned later.
uncertain
verdict → apply → ?
But if City are not punished until after the appeal, they could keep their points this season, costing rivals their Premier League status or a place in European competition.
What has happened to other clubs breaching Premier League rules?
uncertain
clubs → punish → rules
Everton were docked a record 10 points in 2023, later cut to six, for overspending in a single three-year period.
asserted
Everton → dock → period
Nottingham Forest lost four points that season.
asserted
Forest → lose → points
This year, Everton were ordered to pay Burnley more than 35 million pounds ($47m) after the latter argued it would have survived relegation in 2021-22 had Everton been punished that season.
asserted
Everton → order → 22
UEFA banned City from European competitions in 2020, but CAS overturned the ban and fined City 10 million euros ($11.3m) for failing to cooperate.
asserted
CAS → ban → euros
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
