By Felicity Flynn
Staff Writer
Manchester City was found guilty on Sept. 29 of 115 charges; with the Premier League Courts accusing the club of "sham" contracts involving its Abu Dhabi owners as part of a "disguised funding scheme" that contributed to inflating revenues and reducing costs by over $1.1 billion.
The breaches relate specifically to a nine-year period, from 2009 to 2018, according to ESPN.
In January 2017, Manchester City had just beat West Ham United 5-0 in the third round of the FA Cup. The Club had just hired one of the most accomplished head coaches in Prem history, Pep Guardiola, according to The Athletic.
Also in January, an email was sent to multiple staff appearing to have been sent by an employee from European football’s governing body, UEFA, containing a link to a financial compliance report. One staff member clicked the link, according to The Athletic.
It was not a genuine email from UEFA but a successful phishing attempt by Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto. Manchester City’s servers were breached, allowing Pinto to retrieve thousands of emails and documents from the club’s systems from 2009 to 2017.
Pinto then sold the information to German investigative outlet Der Spiegel who posted the documents in November 2018, according to The New York Times.
This caused UEFA and the Premier League to start its own search upon the financials of the Premier League Club in 2018. UEFA eventually found them to be guilty in 2020 and issued a two year ban to all European games along with a fine of $33 million.
However, Manchester City appealed this decision due to the UEFA internal five-year statute of limitations. Since these documents were from over five years prior, they were legally unpunishable by UEFA and the punishment was withdrawn, according to The Athletic. The Premier League continued their investigation.
They found in their own investigation Manchester City FC guilty of all 115 charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and the majority of charges in relation to its failure to cooperate with the League’s investigation, according to the Premier League Statement.
The Independent Commission alleged Manchester City arranged ‘sham’ contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) to artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and led them to be significantly in breach of both the PL and UEFA spending limits.
The Commission also concluded that the club had “made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the PL investigation,” according to the Premier League Statement.
During the investigation The Premier League asked for City to turn over a vast swathe of documents while the club sought to keep the scope as narrow as possible, arguing some documents were either irrelevant or confidential, according to The Athletic.
Manchester City placed the disclosed documents on a server where the club could track which individuals accessed the information and which did not allow text to be copied and pasted. This slowed down the Premier League’s investigation significantly.
After the decision; The Premier League gave Manchester City until Oct. 2 to turn in an appeal. They responded, “Manchester City Football Club can confirm that at 7pm on Thursday 1st October 2026 the Club lodged its comprehensive Appeal against the opinion of the Premier League Commission; The Club’s firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe,” according to The Guardian.
There will be a new three-person independent panel who will be appointed to hear the appeal. Additionally, the Independent Appeal Board hearing will remain private and confidential until publication of the outcome is permitted, according to the Premier League Statement.
Meanwhile, City's punishment is yet to be determined. Under Section W, Rule 54 of the Premier League's Handbook, they are facing a punishment ranging from a reprimand to expulsion. There could be a fine, a points deduction and a transfer ban, according to ESPN.
This could also impact other Premier League teams, not just those that have failed to win the league or qualify for European competition. Every position in the Premier League is worth millions in merit payments, meaning teams across the table could potentially use ‘other litigation’ to protect their financial interests.
From the players perspective, there is certainly a significant level of concern as to how they will be affected, according to BBC Sport.
Players who do not have regulation clauses in the contract may not be able to leave, however their contract is fully guaranteed, therefore will not have to take pay cuts which will make it difficult for Manchester City to keep their squad intact due to a potential fine, BBC Sport reported.
Players who try to leave Manchester City could risk taking a pay cut as the club is known for offering high wages that other teams may not be willing to match. As one agent told BBC Sport, “Some players want medals, all players want money.”
Richard Masters, Chief Executive of the Premier League, said, “It is a key responsibility of the Premier League to ensure that the Rules, approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition. It is paramount that the League remains competitive and fair for all clubs and for the fans. We take that role extremely seriously.”
