Manchester City could be ordered to pay up to £50m to Premier League after commission ruling
Manchester City could be required to pay the Premier League as much as £50m in legal costs after an independent commission found the club guilty of breaching the league’s financial rules, the Premier League announced on Tuesday. The panel said City had artificially inflated their income by £900m over a nine-year period.
The commission concluded the club had used what it described as “sham” contracts to increase revenues and comply with spending regulations, and set out its reasoning in a 40-page document. The panel found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules and guilty of the majority of charges concerning the club’s alleged failure to cooperate with the league’s investigation. The case has stretched over eight years and remains unresolved, with the commission yet to determine the final compensation figure.
Both sides incurred heavy legal bills during the process, with legal experts suggesting combined costs could exceed £100m. Manchester City retained Lord Pannick KC, while the Premier League’s legal team was led by Adam Smith KC. The Premier League’s own costs are expected to be upwards of £70m.
Lawyers have told the Guardian that a successful party can typically recover around 70% of its legal expenses from the losing side; applying that proportion to the league’s projected spend would equate to an award close to £50m. The commission will rule on whether the Premier League’s expenditure was proportionate to the case when it determines compensation.
Manchester City issued a statement denying wrongdoing, saying “a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists”, and said they intend to appeal, describing the ruling as an “opinion” that contains “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe”. The club’s chief executive, Ferran Soriano, sent a three-minute video to staff calling it a “Premier League conspiracy theory”.
The recent Everton case from 2024 was cited as a comparative precedent: after Everton were found to have breached profit and sustainability rules the league sought £4.9m in costs but was awarded £1.7m following legal challenges. Everton’s lawyers argued that the Premier League’s cost per document disclosed was 19 times higher than the club’s and that the cost per witness statement was five times higher.
The next formal step is for the independent commission to set the compensation amount once its process is complete; the panel will also assess whether the league’s legal spending was proportionate. Manchester City have said they will appeal the commission’s findings.