'Manchester City Have Been Found Guilty Of All Charges,' Premier League Confirms

The Commission said City used "sham" commercial contracts and a disguised funding scheme involving Abu Dhabi United Group to inflate revenue and cut costs by more than £900 million. Premier League chief executive, Richard Masters, said punishment is yet to be decided, while City can appeal by Friday, October 2, and a further hearing will consider sanctions.

Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League's financial rules between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons, the Premier League has confirmed. Naija News reports that theindependent Commission found that Manchester City arranged"sham"contractswith several commercial partners and relied on other"sham"agreements to artificially inflate their revenues and reduce their costs.

The Commission also found that the club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from auditors and football regulators. It concluded that the arrangements artificially increased City's revenues and reduced their costs by more than £900 million during the period under investigation.

According to the Premier League, the arrangements formed part of a disguised funding scheme involving Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club at the time. The Commission found that ADUG funded portions of sponsorship agreements and other arrangements that allowed City to record lower operating expenses than they actually incurred.

The findings also established that City significantly breached both the Premier League's spending limits and UEFA's financial rules. The Commission said the club would have breached both sets of regulations by a substantial amount if the relevant agreements had been accurately recorded in its accounts.

City were also found guilty of three of four alleged breaches relating to their failure to co-operate with the Premier League's four-year investigation, which began in December 2018. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the decision established the facts surrounding City's conduct during the period under investigation.

"The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade,"Masters said.

He described the disciplinary case as the most significant in Premier League history, while confirming that the sanction for the breaches has yet to be determined. "Now we have the Commission's decision, we are committed to moving swiftly through the remainder of the process, to provide certainty for the League, our clubs and fans,"Masters said.

The sanction will be considered separately by the independent Commission at a further hearing. Premier League rules allow for sanctions including fines, points deductions and other sporting penalties.