It's official! Premier League confirms Manchester City guilty verdict

The Premier League has confirmed that an independent commission has found City guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of its financial rules over a nine-season period. The announcement, published on Tuesday, ends several days of uncertainty after reports of the commission's findings first emerged on Friday.

City have responded by maintaining their innocence and confirming that they will appeal. The Premier League's official statement says the breaches covered the period between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons.

It also confirmed that three of four charges concerning City's failure to co-operate with the League's investigation were upheld. Premier League publishes Manchester City findings The commission found that City arranged what it described as "sham" contracts with a number of commercial partners, while relying on other agreements that misrepresented the true arrangements between the parties.

According to the findings, those arrangements allowed City to artificially inflate revenues and reduce costs by more than £900m over the nine-season period. The commission also found that City filed misstated accounts, concealed the true state of their finances from auditors and football regulators and would have substantially breached Premier League and UEFA spending limits had the relevant agreements been recorded accurately.

It concluded that the club had intended to circumvent Premier League rules. The findings go further on City's conduct during the investigation, which began in December 2018.

The commission concluded that the club had made "concerted efforts to stop and frustrate" that investigation. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters described the case and decision as the most significant in the competition's history.

The redacted core decision has now been published after the commission ruled, and an Appeal Board confirmed, that it constitutes a "final award". That doesn't mean the entire process is over.

Manchester City confirm appeal The sanction will be decided at a separate hearing before the independent commission. No points deduction, fine or other sporting punishment has yet been imposed.

Premier League rules give the commission broad discretion over sanctions, with the possible measures including fines, points deductions and other sporting penalties. The League says it intends to move through the remaining process as quickly as possible.