Manchester City arranged “sham contracts” with commercial partners as part of a scheme that disguised more than £830 million in funding and breached Premier League (opens in new tab) financial rules across nearly a decade, the league said Tuesday as it published a redacted independent commission report, the BBC, CBS Sports (opens in new tab) and NBC News (opens in new tab) report.
The commission found City guilty of all but one of 115 charges covering the 2009–10 through 2017–18 seasons, the Premier League (opens in new tab) said in an official statement. It concluded the club relied on sham agreements to inflate revenues and cut costs, and that some important club witnesses gave false or dishonest evidence. In the three title-winning seasons of 2011–12, 2013–14 and 2017–18, City booked about £360 million in sponsor fees of which only £43 million was deemed legitimate — the rest disguised owner money — the BBC reports from the commission text.
Premier League (opens in new tab) CEO Richard Masters said the decision “establishes the facts of what happened” and “vindicates” pursuing the case to protect competitive integrity. Sanctions will be set in a separate confidential hearing; the league has not yet specified points deductions, fines or other penalties.
City said it was “disappointed and surprised,” maintains it is “innocent,” and will “pursue the appeal avenues open to it,” arguing the opinion contains “clear material errors.” The club has until Oct. 2 to submit an appeal. CEO Ferran Soriano, in a staff video quoted by the BBC, criticized what he called a “Premier League (opens in new tab) conspiracy theory” and insisted City would be “vindicated.” Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy called the findings “incredibly serious.” Former City chairman David Bernstein told the BBC that if the verdict stands, sanctions “cannot just be financial.”
The case traces to Football Leaks reporting in 2018, a UEFA probe, a CAS-overturned European ban in 2020, and Premier League (opens in new tab) charges filed in 2023 after a long investigation. Tuesday’s publication converts last week’s leaked guilty-majority reports into an official public record — with the penalty phase still ahead.