Man City ‘surprised’ by guilty FFP verdict with ‘relentless’ appeal process to begin | OneFootball

Manchester City maintain they are ‘innocent’ in their Financial Fair Play (FFP) battle with the Premier League, despite an independent commission finding them guilty of almost all of the charges launched.

It emerged on Friday that City had been found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges made against them by the Premier League. That followed a four-year investigation conducted by the Premier League and then a 10-week hearing by the independent panel that started in September 2024.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Premier League confirmed City had been found guilty, releasing the following statement: ‘An independent Commission has found Manchester City FC guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.

‘The independent Commission found that between Seasons 2009/10 and 2017/18: – Manchester City arranged ‘sham’ contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on ‘sham’ agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs – The club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators – Manchester City was significantly in breach of both the Premier League’s and UEFA’s spending limits – During the Premier League’s investigation, Manchester City committed multiple breaches of its duties of co-operation and utmost good faith towards the League (three of the four alleged breaches were upheld)

‘The independent Commission found that Manchester City arranged ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors during the period, which were part of a disguised funding scheme, whereby those companies were only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.

‘The remainder was funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club. As part of the scheme, further ‘sham’ arrangements, funded by ADUG, were entered into to enable the club to record lower operating expenses than it actually incurred, as well as a ‘sham’ circular arrangement with Fordham, an entity that purchased the club’s players’ image rights, that was funded by ADUG.

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‘The purpose of these schemes was found to have been to artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than £900 million during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules.

‘The consequence of this, as the Commission found, was that the club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators. The Commission concluded that ‘by its conduct the club clearly intended to circumvent the PL Rules’.’

City have now responded to the verdict with a statement of their own. It reads: ‘Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today.

‘The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case. The Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums.

Man City suggest Premier League hasn’t been ‘impartial’

‘The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted. Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.

‘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 Club is obviously restricted in what it can say further until all future proceedings are complete.’

On Saturday, City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak claimed the charges were part of an attempt to ‘undermine the momentum of our club’. He added: ‘We will not give them that opportunity.’

City CEO Ferran Soriano, meanwhile, has told a meeting of European clubs: “It’s taken eight years to get here and it’s going to take a lot more time.”

Alongside City’s appeal, we must wait and see which punishments are levelled against the club. A transfer ban, fine, points deduction or relegation from the top flight have all been touted as potential sanctions.