Manchester City Hit by Major Verdict Over Financial Breaches Spanning 9 Seasons
- Manchester City have received a major verdict after an independent Commission examined their financial dealings across 9 Premier League seasons
- The long-running Manchester City case has taken a dramatic turn, with the Premier League now revealing what the Commission found
- Manchester City’s financial case has reached a crucial stage, but the verdict is only the beginning of what could come next
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ENGLAND — An independent Commission has found Manchester City guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules across nine seasons, in what Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters described as the most significant disciplinary case in the competition's history.
The findings, announced by the Premier League on 29 September 2026, cover the period between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons and include a majority of charges related to the club's failure to co-operate with the League's investigation.
How Manchester City manipulated its finances
The Commission found that Manchester City arranged fictitious commercial agreements with several sponsors, under which those companies were only required to pay a fraction of the stated sponsorship fees. Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), the club's owner, secretly covered the remainder.
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Additional sham arrangements allowed the club to record artificially lower operating expenses, while ADUG also funded a circular scheme involving an entity called Fordham, which purchased players' image rights.
The cumulative effect of these schemes was to misrepresent the club's revenues and costs by more than £900 million. This enabled it to appear compliant with both the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules and UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations. The Commission concluded that "by its conduct the club clearly intended to circumvent the PL Rules."
Had the club's finances been reported accurately, it would have breached both sets of spending limits by a very substantial margin.
Investigation and what happens next
The Premier League launched its investigation into Manchester City in December 2018. A formal complaint was issued in February 2023, and a 42-day hearing concluded in December 2024.
The Commission also upheld three of the four charges related to the club's conduct during the investigation itself. It found that the club had "made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the PL investigation."
Masters said the decision "vindicates the Premier League's decision to pursue this case" and confirmed the League would move swiftly through the remaining stages of the process.
The question of sanctions will be addressed in a separate hearing before the same independent Commission. Manchester City has until Friday, 2 October 2026, to lodge an appeal against the findings.
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Kevin De Bruyne’s Manchester City connection
Briefly News previously reported that former Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne was in South Africa, where he celebrated his 8th wedding anniversary with his wife, Michèle, during a visit to Mpumalanga.
The former Manchester City captain’s Mzansi trip has also included football activities as he promotes the KDB Cup, his youth tournament aimed at developing young talent.
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Source: Briefly News
