Premier League finds Manchester City guilty of financial breaches

The Premier League has issued an official statement confirming that, according to an independent commission's decision, Manchester City has been found guilty of serious breaches of financial regulations. This decision has caused a major stir in the global football community, as it concerns not only the biggest disciplinary case in the league's history but also serious allegations spanning a decade of the club's operations. This was reported by Goal.com in a report.

According to the independent commission's investigation, the club acted in violation of financial rules for nine consecutive seasons and failed to comply with the league's investigation, repeatedly breaching its obligations to cooperate. It was found that the investigation exposed not only the breaches themselves but also the club's hostile and unusual actions toward the inquiry.

Fake sponsorship deals and hidden financing

According to the schemes uncovered during the investigation, Manchester City artificially inflated its revenue by entering into fake sponsorship contracts. Under this hidden financing scheme, sponsor companies paid only a small fraction of the contract sums, while the remaining funds were provided by the club's owners, Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG).

The scale of these financial frauds was found to exceed £900 million. The commission concluded that the primary goal of these schemes was to artificially boost club revenue and understate costs to appear compliant with financial regulations. Consequently, the club concealed its true financial position from its auditors and football regulators.

Premier League leadership and club response

Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters emphasized the extreme gravity of the situation, noting that this is the most significant disciplinary case in the history of the Premier League. According to him, the final decision Manchester City fully exposes that the club has systematically breached league rules for nearly a decade.

In turn, Manchester City categorically rejected the commission's findings and issued a statement. The club stated that it considers itself completely innocent and will immediately appeal the decision. Club representatives highlighted that the findings contain legal, principled, and factual errors, and affirmed they will continue to defend their position.