Independent commission finds Manchester City guilty on 114 of 115 Premier League charges
On 25 September 2026 an independent commission in the Premier League case found Manchester City guilty on 114 of 115 charges brought by the league over alleged financial breaches, a verdict reported by The Athletic. Sanctions have not yet been decided and could include the potential loss of Premier League titles.
The inquiry followed the publication of leaked documents by Der Spiegel in November 2018 and a subsequent four-year Premier League investigation into alleged breaches between 2009 and 2018. After completing its investigation the Premier League charged City in February 2023 and referred the matter to an independent commission; the process has taken eight years to reach this verdict, according to The Athletic.
The charges accused City of failing to provide accurate financial information, including details relating to payments made to players and coaches, and also covered alleged breaches of UEFA's financial fair play regulations and the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules. City have consistently denied the allegations. City responded at the time by saying they were "surprised" by the charges and welcomed the opportunity for an independent commission to examine what the club described as the "comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence" supporting its position.
Premier League rules allow for a range of potential penalties, including fines, points deductions and expulsion from the competition; a retrospective points deduction could alter the standings of previous seasons and potentially affect the validity of titles won during the period under investigation. City have won eight Premier League titles since Sheikh Mansour's Abu Dhabi United Group completed its takeover of the club in 2008, with six of those titles coming after the beginning of the period covered by the Premier League's charges. The club have also won four FA Cups, seven League Cups and the Champions League under Mansour's ownership.
The Premier League case is separate from City's previous dispute with UEFA. In February 2020 UEFA imposed a two-year ban from European competitions and a 30 million Euros fine on City; the club appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and CAS overturned the two-year ban five months later. CAS ruled that the alleged FFP breaches had either not been established or were time-barred under UEFA's regulations, but found City guilty of failing to cooperate with UEFA's investigation by not providing substantial amounts of evidence, described the breach as "severe" and said it needed to be "seriously reproached"; the fine was subsequently reduced to 8.8 million pounds.
The club has maintained that the Premier League process was still ongoing and stressed that significant elements of the case were yet to be completed. "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," a Manchester City spokesperson told The Athletic.
With City now found guilty on 114 charges, the focus shifts to the commission's sanctions and the club's expected appeal against the verdict.
