An independent Commission has found Manchester City guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations over a nine-season period.
The Premier League confirmed that the Commission ruled against City on all charges covering the period from the 2009/10 to 2017/18 seasons. The club was also found guilty of most of the allegations concerning its failure to cooperate fully with the League’s investigation.
According to the Commission’s findings, Manchester City used a number of commercial arrangements that were described as “sham” agreements. The Commission concluded that these deals did not accurately reflect the true agreements between the parties and were used to artificially increase the club’s reported revenue and lower its recorded expenses.
The Commission also found that the club submitted inaccurate financial accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from auditors and football regulators.
It further concluded that Manchester City had significantly breached both Premier League and UEFA spending limits during the period in question.
The Commission said several sponsorship arrangements were part of a disguised funding system in which sponsors paid only part of the agreed amounts, with the remaining sums funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), the company that owned Manchester City at the time.
The findings also stated that additional arrangements funded by ADUG allowed the club to report lower operating costs than it actually incurred. Another arrangement involving Fordham, a company that acquired players’ image rights, was also described as part of the scheme.
The Premier League said the Commission determined that these arrangements had artificially increased Manchester City’s reported revenue and reduced its recorded costs by more than £900 million during the affected period.
As a result, the Commission concluded that the club had not accurately reported its income and expenditure for the purposes of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules and UEFA’s financial regulations.
Had the relevant agreements been accurately reflected in the club’s accounts, the Commission found that Manchester City would have breached both the Premier League’s and UEFA’s spending limits by a substantial margin.
The Commission also found that City breached its duty to cooperate with the Premier League’s investigation. Three of the four alleged breaches relating to cooperation and good faith were upheld, with the Commission concluding that the club had made concerted efforts to obstruct and frustrate the investigation.
The Premier League has now published a redacted version of the independent Commission’s findings.
However, Manchester City have not yet been punished. The question of sanctions will be considered separately at a future hearing.
City also have the right to appeal the Commission’s findings and have until Friday, October 2, to exercise that right.
