Manchester City found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules
Manchester City were found guilty on Friday in the Premier League’s disciplinary case of the majority of 134 charges alleging breaches of the competition’s financial rules, and now face the prospect of sanctions that could include relegation or expulsion as the club prepares to appeal. Neither Manchester City nor the Premier League publicly confirmed the outcome on Friday and an appeal process is expected to be pursued imminently by the club.
The 134 charges span the 2009-10 to 2022-23 seasons and were brought more than three and a half years ago, with disciplinary hearings having been under way for over two years before this verdict was delivered. From 2009-10 to 2022-23 inclusive City won seven Premier League titles, a Champions League, three FA Cups and six League Cups. The allegations included a range of offences, with the most serious asserting that the club failed to provide “accurate financial information” to the league during that period.
A Manchester City spokesperson reiterated the club’s stance and said: “The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality. 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 that the Premier League board and executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.”
The charges were said to cover five distinct areas of alleged rule-breaking. More than 80 of the counts related to a club’s obligation to act in “the utmost good faith” when providing information to the Premier League, alleging that City gave an inaccurate picture of its finances and withheld documents. Twenty charges concerned the club’s obligation to provide “full details of … remuneration”, with the remainder tied to breaches of the profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) and related UEFA financial fair play regulations.
The Premier League rulebook sets strict timelines for appeals. Any party wishing to appeal a judicial panel’s decision must do so by email within 14 days of the announcement; under rule W.86 any appeal hearing should conclude no longer than 12 weeks after the first appeal is submitted, and any decision by the appeal board must be published, with full written reasons, within 30 days of the conclusion of the hearing.
The scale of the Manchester City case was contrasted in the coverage with a recent disciplinary matter involving Chelsea, who were found to have breached the FA’s rules on agents on 74 occasions and were fined £10m after being adjudged not to have gained significant sporting advantage and being praised for self-reporting. UEFA’s previous action against City was also referenced: UEFA found City in breach of FFP in 2014 and imposed a €20m fine; in 2020 UEFA suspended City from the Champions League for alleged overstatement of sponsorship revenue, a suspension that was overturned on appeal to the court of arbitration for sport. The Premier League began its own investigation in December 2018, a probe that required legal action by the Mail on Sunday to prove it was taking place and resulted in charges four years later.
Club executives are reported to have learned of the verdict following a shareholders’ meeting in central London on Thursday and subsequently signed non-disclosure agreements, and the Premier League declined to comment, citing the confidential nature of the case. Andy Burnham was asked about the news on Friday evening. The prime minister told ITV Granada Reports: “I’ve only just been made aware of it – I think these are reports at this stage. But if they’re confirmed, obviously I will want to look at the report of the independent commission. “People shouldn’t jump to those kind of conclusions. I know, this has been a long process between the club and the Premier League. I think quite a contested process. So I don’t think it’s as simple as jumping to conclusions. I think we would all need to study the independent commission’s report in some considerable detail before reaching any conclusions.”
An appeal by Manchester City is expected imminently; should the club fail in that appeal the judicial panel would then be required to determine and publish the level of sanction to be applied. Premier League rule W.64 lists the penalties available to a disciplinary committee, including levying a fine, suspending a club from competition, imposing a points deduction or, in the most extreme circumstances, expelling a club from the competition altogether.