Premier League confirm Man City hid £920m in ‘sham’ revenue

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The Football Faithful

·29 September 2026

Premier League confirm Man City hid £920m in ‘sham’ revenue

The Premier League has revealed that Manchester City misstated their accounts to the tune of £920 million over a nine-year period after the club was found guilty of breaching financial rules.

The verdict of an independent commission was published on Tuesday afternoon, confirming reports that City were guilty of all but one of the 115 charges levelled at them by the league in 2023.

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The charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules between 2009 and 2018, and failure to cooperate with the investigation.

According to the commission’s findings, City arranged ‘sham’ contracts 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, and it was in breach of the spending limits set by both the Premier League and UEFA.

Premier League confirm Man City hid £920m in ‘sham’ revenue

City overstated their revenue by £854.5 million and understated their expenditure by £66.2 million, adding up to £920.7 million in financial misstatements.

The also committed multiple breaches of the Premier League’s duties of co-operation and utmost good faith towards the league, with three of the four alleged breaches upheld.

Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters called it “the most significant” decision in the history of the division

“The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.

“It also vindicates the Premier League’s decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.

“It is a key responsibility of the Premier League to ensure that the Rules, approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition. It is paramount that the League remains competitive and fair for all clubs and for the fans. We take that role extremely seriously.

“This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history. There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches. Now we have the Commission’s decision, we are committed to moving swiftly through the remainder of the process, to provide certainty for the League, our clubs and fans.”

Now that the charges have been proved, a further hearing with the independent commission will decide how City should be sanctioned, which includes fines, points deductions and other sporting sanctions. City have until 2nd October to appeal the verdict.

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