Manchester City have been found guilty by an independent commission of serious breaches of Premier League financial rules covering the 2009/10 to 2017/18 seasons, with the commission finding that the club used commercial arrangements that did not reflect their true economic substance.
The Premier League said the commission found that City had arranged “sham” contracts with commercial partners and used other agreements to artificially increase revenues and reduce costs.
The arrangements formed part of what the commission described as a disguised funding scheme. According to the published findings, Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), the club’s owner, funded the portion of sponsorship payments that was not paid by the relevant sponsors. The Premier League said the schemes artificially inflated revenue and reduced costs by more than £900 million during the period under investigation.
The commission also found that City submitted misstated accounts and concealed the true position of its finances from auditors and football regulators. It concluded that the arrangements enabled the club to avoid breaches of Premier League and UEFA spending limits that would otherwise have occurred.
The findings cover more than 100 alleged breaches across four broad categories. The commission upheld all of the charges relating to the financial breaches and also upheld three of four alleged breaches concerning the club’s cooperation with the Premier League investigation.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the decision established the facts of what occurred during the period and described the case as the most significant disciplinary matter in the competition’s history.
City have rejected the findings and said they are “disappointed and surprised” by the commission’s decision. The club maintains that it has evidence supporting its position and intends to pursue the available appeal process, arguing that the decision contains material errors of law, principle and fact.
The case is not yet concluded. The Premier League said the question of sanctions will be dealt with separately by the independent commission. City have until Friday, 2 October 2026 to appeal the findings.
