Manchester City found guilty on majority of 134 Premier League charges; appeal window opens

Manchester City have been found guilty of the vast majority of the 134 disciplinary charges brought against them by the Premier League, according to reports published on 26 September 2026 about the privately conducted judicial hearing.

The case has been handled exclusively in private with parties sworn to secrecy, and there is not yet an official publication of the three-person judicial panel’s written reasons; nonetheless media and football stakeholders are treating reports of a significant ruling for the Premier League as accurate. Under Premier League rules City would have 14 days from the announcement of the verdict to lodge an appeal, with the appeal process expected to conclude in less than 12 weeks. The appeal hearing is to be held in one block lasting no more than five days, and the appeal panel are expected to publish written reasons for their decision once it is reached.

Any appeal would be directed at the judicial panel’s decision rather than the sanctions, and City would be permitted to submit new evidence only if it had not previously been available to them, as well as to present new oral arguments. After the appeal hearing concludes a verdict would be expected within 30 days. The club’s ability to seek to overturn findings therefore depends on demonstrating error in the original decision within those procedural limits.

The Premier League’s rule W.97 states that "the decision of an Appeal Board shall be final", but the article notes there remains a final route of arbitration after exhaustion of the league’s internal processes. Arbitration would require appearing before a separate panel of legal figures and the criteria for obtaining a hearing there are described as much stricter, with successful arbitration mainly possible if the judicial panel or appeal board was found to have abused the legal process.

City have recently used arbitration with the Premier League over its rules related to associated party transactions; after an initial verdict that challenged two applications of the rules but otherwise found them to be sound, City and the Premier League reached a settlement which stopped the case from going to court. If City fail at appeal, the possible sanctions open to the panel range from fines through sporting penalties such as point deductions to complete expulsion from the league.

Premier League clubs and teams relegated from the division are reported to be assessing potential financial losses incurred during the period in which City were winning and, according to the article, breaking the rules, and a wave of lawsuits is likely if the verdict is upheld. The piece cites Manchester United as an example, noting they finished second behind City in 2017-18 and were potentially denied a record-breaking 21st league title, and it adds that relegated clubs could argue they were sent down because of points denied them by a City side subsequently found to have cheated.

The immediate development to monitor is whether Manchester City files an appeal within the 14-day window; if they do, the appeal hearing should be scheduled and the league’s published timelines indicate the process must be completed within the stated legal timeframes and produce written reasons from the appeal panel.