Manchester City reject leaked guilty findings after reports over more than 100 charges
On Friday, leaked reports suggested Manchester City had been found guilty of the vast majority of more than 100 charges arising from a Premier League investigation, and on Saturday the club publicly rejected those findings. The club’s response included a letter to supporters from chair Khaldoon al‑Mubarak and a promise to contest the process.
The scale of the allegations has prompted wide speculation about potential sanctions and the club’s next steps. Enormous fines, relegation, multiple giant asterisks, staggered points deductions and demotion to the North West Counties League have all been mooted as possible punishments. The club has consistently protested its innocence throughout the investigation, and on Saturday it again signalled determination to challenge the case.
Khaldoon al‑Mubarak set out the club’s stance in a message to fans, writing: “The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began,” huffed the club chair, Khaldoon al‑Mubarak, in a letter to fans conveying the impression that if the laws of physics ever rule against his club, Isaac Newton will be hearing from their army of lawyers.
Debate over appropriate sanctions continues among commentators and experts. “I don’t think automatic relegation will be applied,” said the football finance expert Kieran Maguire, a man currently getting more radio airplay than Taylor Swift. “We’re at the end of September and if we do that at the end of September, what’s Manchester City going to do until next August?”
Football Daily suggested the likely next step for the club is an appeal. “Appeal any judgments against them, is Football Daily’s best guess. And ideally in a process that can’t be hurried.” The piece advised the club would seek to use available legal routes to contest any findings.
The newsletter also carried Nations League coverage and results: Belgium 2-3 France and Northern Ireland 0-2 Hungary, and invited readers to join Michael Butler from 7.45pm BST for further live updates. The Republic of Ireland beat Israel 3-0 in the Nations League, and head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said after the match: “It’s probably been the toughest day of my coaching career. But it’s not about me. It’s about the players and they’ve shown today how much playing for Ireland means to them. They represented themselves on the pitch with dignity but also with the power of proud Irishmen. They’ve shown today how much playing for Ireland means to them and hopefully they will have the support of the Irish people.”
Before that fixture, the Irish players looked down at the grass with their heads bowed and hands behind their backs during the Israeli national anthem, and the Irish captain, Dara O’Shea, shook hands with the referee and his assistants but there was no attempt to shake the hand of the Israel captain, Manor Solomon. Reader responses in the newsletter included Tim Eveleigh’s complaint about formation details: “Well, this was a very disappointing article. I was hoping at the very least for some indication of the formations but the only information appears to be that it was basically three-a-side” – Tim Eveleigh, and Peter Oh’s comment on Italy’s match: “And when Belgium scored a second time, they didn’t Lukebakio” – Peter Oh. This item is an extract from the Football Daily email and the full version is available via the newsletter page.
Football Daily concluded that contesting any rulings through the appeals process is the expected immediate course of action for Manchester City, and invited readers to follow ongoing Nations League coverage and further developments in the Premier League investigation.
