Manchester City, the Premier League: "Systematic financial violations for nine seasons."

Manchester City is guilty of financial violations alleged by the Premier League. This is the conclusion reached by the independent commission called to examine the proceedings initiated against the English club for matters relating to nine seasons, from 2009/10 to 2017/18.

The Commission, according to a statement from the Premier League, found Manchester City liable for all allegations relating to serious breaches of financial rules and most of those relating to failure to cooperate with the investigation conducted by the League.

The verdict concerns a particularly complex proceeding, which unfolded over several years and focused on the representation of the club's revenues, costs, and actual financial situation.

The disputed commercial contracts

One of the central points of the investigation concerns a series of trade agreements that, according to the Commission, did not accurately represent the real economic relationships between the parties.

Manchester City allegedly entered into fictitious contracts with various commercial partners, using arrangements that, according to sports investigators, artificially inflated the club's revenue. Other agreements, however, served to reduce the club's actual costs.

The Commission has reconstructed a system in which some sponsors would have paid only a portion of the fees foreseen in the contracts, while the remainder would have been financed by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), the company that owns Manchester City.

According to what emerged from the proceedings, further agreements financed by ADUG were also used to allow the club to record lower operating costs than those actually incurred.

Over 900 million pounds

The Commission's reconstruction attributes a particularly significant overall effect to these schemes: the aim was to artificially inflate revenues and reduce costs by more than £900 million over the period under consideration.

Among the disputed agreements is a fictitious agreement with Fordham, the entity that had purchased the image rights to the club's players. This agreement, according to the Commission, was also financed by ADUG.

According to the Commission, the consequences of the agreements would have been the presentation of financial statements that did not correspond to Manchester City's true economic situation, with financial information that would therefore have misrepresented the club's revenues and expenses.

Premier League and UEFA restrictions violated

The investigation also had consequences for compliance with financial sustainability regulations.
The Commission has established that Manchester City had significantly breached spending limits set by both the Premier League and UEFA. The failure to properly account for commercial agreements had a direct impact on the calculation of the club's financial parameters.

According to the reconstruction contained in the provision, if all the agreements had been correctly reported in the financial statements, Manchester City would have significantly exceeded the limits set by the English League and UEFA regulations on club licensing and financial fair play.

"Efforts to hinder the investigation"

A second chapter of the proceedings concerns Manchester City's conduct during the Premier League investigation.

The Commission found three of the four alleged violations of the obligations of cooperation and utmost good faith towards the League. According to the official account, the club made "concerted efforts" to stop and obstruct the investigation.

This is separate from the financial disputes and instead relates to the company's conduct during the four-year proceedings initiated by the Premier League.

Masters: "Systematic violations"

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the Commission's findings confirmed the legality of the league's action against Manchester City.

According to Masters, the club had systematically breached Premier League rules for almost a decade, a circumstance which, in the League's position, would justify the proceedings initiated against it.

City rejects the charges and announces an appeal

Manchester City, however, rejected the Commission's findings in their entirety and announced its intention to use all available appeal tools.

In a statement, the club said it was "disappointed and surprised" by the opinion published by the Premier League, contesting the allegations and maintaining that it had a large body of evidence to support its position.
The company then announced that it will act "decisively" in the relevant regulatory and legal venues, underlining that the Premier League proceedings are still ongoing and have aspects that have not yet been resolved.

Manchester City also claims that the Commission's opinion contains "obvious substantive errors" in terms of the law, the principles applied and the reconstruction of the facts, considering it to be without legal basis.

The verdict, therefore, now opens a new phase in the affair: on one side, the investigations of the Independent Commission, which has deemed the alleged violations proven; on the other, the company, which has announced its intention to challenge the decision through the established appeal procedures.