Business & Markets
Premier League commission finds Manchester City breached financial rules across nine seasons
The ruling says City’s accounts overstated income by more than £830 million and found most cooperation charges proven. The club rejects the findings, and the league’s sanction process is still ahead.
Executive summary
- The ruling: A three-member independent commission found Manchester City breached Premier League financial rules over the 2009-10 through 2017-18 seasons. Its core decision says the charges were proven except for one part of the league’s cooperation case, Charge 4(B).[1][2]
- The accounting: The commission said City’s reported income was overstated by more than £830 million across those years. The Premier League says the schemes inflated revenue and reduced costs by more than £900 million in total.[1][2]
- City’s response: The club says it is innocent, disputes the commission’s reasoning and will pursue an appeal. No sanction has been imposed yet.[3][2]
- What remains: The commission’s findings are part of the Premier League’s disciplinary process, not a criminal court judgment. The league still must decide sanctions, and the appeal process may change what follows.[1][2][4]
An independent commission has found Manchester City responsible for serious breaches of Premier League financial rules covering nine seasons, from 2009-10 through 2017-18. The league published a redacted 40-page core decision on Tuesday, turning a long-running disciplinary case into a formal set of findings after a hearing that ended in December 2024.[1][4]
The decision’s wording is more precise than the shorthand that City was found guilty of “all 115 charges.” The commission states that each charge against the club was proven except Charge 4(B), one element of the cooperation case. The Premier League’s public statement says all charges tied to serious financial-rule breaches were proven and most cooperation charges were proven; Reuters reported three of four cooperation charges were upheld.[1][2][4]
The commission said City’s financial statements from 2009-10 to 2017-18 did not give a true and fair view of the club’s position. It found that the accounts recorded more than £830 million as commercial income when the money should have been treated as equity contributions from the club’s owner, Abu Dhabi United Group. The commission also found that certain costs were omitted. Those are findings in a league disciplinary case, not a criminal conviction.[1][2]
In the decision, the commission describes a plan to present owner funding as sponsorship revenue and says agreements with commercial partners did not reflect the economic substance of the arrangements. The Premier League says the broader schemes artificially inflated revenue and reduced costs by more than £900 million, helping the club appear to meet financial rules. That combined figure is the league’s summary of the findings; it is not the same measure as the commission’s more-than-£830 million revenue figure.[1][2][5]
The charges also covered whether City supplied accurate financial information and cooperated with the league’s investigation. The commission found the club failed to cooperate in most, but not all, of the respects alleged. City rejects the result. In its statement, the club said the opinion contains material errors of law, principle and fact and that it will pursue available appeal avenues.[1][3][2]
The commission has not set a penalty. The Premier League said key parts of the process remain unfinished, including the sanction, and Reuters reported that City had until Friday, October 2, to lodge an appeal. The eventual timetable and outcome are not yet known.[2][4]
That leaves the case’s practical consequences unresolved. The ruling addresses financial reporting, sponsorship and compliance over nearly a decade; it does not itself impose a points deduction, fine, title change or expulsion. Any sanction would require a further decision, and City’s appeal could challenge the findings before the process concludes.[1][2][3]
The decision matters beyond one club because it tests how a major league enforces rules that shape spending and competition. The commission’s findings now give the league a public evidentiary basis for the next phase, while City’s stated appeal and the still-undecided sanction mean the dispute is not over.[1][2][4]