Manchester City appeal after commission finds club breached Premier League financial rules

An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of breaching the Premier League's financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. The findings were made public on Tuesday. BBC Sport and ESPN both report the verdict.

City deny the accusations. In a statement on its official website, quoted by ESPN, the club said: "Manchester City Football Club can confirm that at 7pm on Thursday, October 1 2026 the club lodged its comprehensive appeal against the opinion of the Premier League Commission, in relation to the Premier League disciplinary matter." ESPN reports the statement was published on Friday.

According to BBC Sport, City were found guilty of the majority of the 115 charges against them. These include all charges about financial breaches between 2009-10 and 2017-18. According to ESPN, the commission's decision states that City arranged "sham" commercial deals. ESPN says these deals inflated revenues and reduced costs by £900 million over nine years, from 2009 to 2018.

The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not include the full decision. They do not give the exact number of charges proven, or say which charges, if any, were not upheld.

BBC Sport reports that the Premier League has not yet set out sanctions, pending the appeal. The reports do not describe the appeal procedure, who will hear it, or when.

Unnamed sources told ESPN that part of the appeal is expected to argue that the money came from the Abu Dhabi government, not from the club's owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG). ESPN describes ADUG as a private investment company owned by Sheikh Mansour, the UAE's vice-president and deputy prime minister. The reports include no response from ADUG, Sheikh Mansour or the Abu Dhabi government.

BBC Sport understands that most City players do not have relegation clauses in their contracts. According to BBC Sport, some people close to the first team have significant concerns, while others believe executives' pledges to prove City's innocence. Several agents believe players will be advised to wait for clarity on sanctions before contract talks, BBC Sport reports. "Some players want medals, all players want money," an unnamed agent told BBC Sport.

BBC Sport also reports that there is no guarantee City would receive parachute payments if demoted.

What is disputed

City reject the commission's findings. The appeal will contest them.

What each side says

• Manchester City, in its statement quoted by ESPN, said the opinion "contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe." It added: "The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case."
• Ferran Soriano, City's chief executive, said in a video message to staff, as quoted by ESPN: "The whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation -- that the owners' personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi. This is just not true."
• Khaldoon Al Mubarak and Ferran Soriano have vowed to prove the club's innocence, according to BBC Sport.
• The Premier League, in its Tuesday statement, called for any appeal to be "concluded as soon as possible," according to ESPN. The reports include no league response to the appeal itself.

Analysis

The case now moves into an appeal whose procedure and timetable the reports do not describe. Two broad outcomes are possible: the findings could be upheld, opening the way for sanctions, or they could be overturned or narrowed in part. Until sanctions are known, uncertainty may affect contract talks, as agents quoted by BBC Sport suggest. The reported argument about the source of the funds raises questions that the reports do not answer, including how the rules would treat money from a government rather than an owner. Neither side's claims can be independently assessed without the full text of the commission's decision.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.