Premier League accuses Manchester City of ‘sham contracts’, says club guilty of more than 100 charges of financial wrongdoing

General view of the Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City football club. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

The Premier League on Tuesday said an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the league’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.

City, the most successful team in England for the past 15 years, now faces severe sanctions that could include a huge points deduction or even expulsion from the Premier League, causing huge reputational damage to its Abu Dhabi ownership.

According to the commission’s findings, City has been accussed of arranging ‘sham contracts’ to misrepresent the true agreement with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on ‘sham’ agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs.

City has been found to have filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators, while adding it was significantly in breach of both the Premier League’s and UEFA’s spending limits.

During the Premier League’s investigation, Manchester City committed multiple breaches of its duties of co-operation and utmost good faith towards the League (three of the four alleged breaches were upheld).

According to the report, City was found to have artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than £900 million during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules.

Richard Masters, Premier League Chief Executive, said, “The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.

“It also vindicates the Premier League’s decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.

“This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history. There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches. Now we have the Commission’s decision, we are committed to moving swiftly through the remainder of the process, to provide certainty for the League, our clubs and fans.”

Masters has also assured a quicker resolution to this long-drawn out saga.

“Now we have the Commission’s decision, we are committed to moving swiftly through the remainder of the process, to provide certainty for the League, our clubs and fans,” said Masters.

The League also said City has until October 2 to appeal the independent Commission’s findings.