Manchester City will appeal Premier League decision, says chief executive Ferran Soriano

Ferran Soriano says Manchester City will appeal against the Premier League's decision to uphold the majority of the financial allegations brought against the club since February 2023. The club's chief executive made the comments in an internal video message to staff as he sought to calm concerns after the findings were announced.

Soriano had declined to make public remarks following the decision and did not speak at Tuesday's clubs' annual general meeting in Copenhagen. Instead, he told employees that the case rested on what he described as a false allegation: that money belonging to Manchester City's owners had been passed to the club through sponsors from Abu Dhabi.

"The entire case with the Premier League is based on a false accusation, which is that the owners' money was injected into Manchester City through some Abu Dhabi sponsors," Soriano said, according to Marca. "That is not true, and sufficient evidence has been submitted to the Premier League commission to prove that this did not happen and will not happen.

"We are talking about bank statements, financial transfers, witness testimony and everything necessary to prove conclusively that the money did not come from the owner." Soriano said, in his view, the full series of allegations against Manchester City was linked to that central claim. "Every false accusation against us comes from this simple and completely false allegation," he added.

He also criticised the process that led to the decision, saying the outcome had surprised both the club and its legal representatives after more than two years. "Unexpectedly for us and our lawyers, after more than two years, the Premier League commission issued an opinion supporting the conspiracy theory adopted by the Premier League," Soriano said.

"To reach that conclusion, the evidence submitted by the club was ignored and an incorrect conclusion was reached."

Manchester City has already confirmed in a statement issued after the investigation's outcome that it intends to challenge the decision.

Soriano repeated that position in his message to staff. The next stage will involve an independent commission deciding what punishment, if any, should be imposed on Manchester City.

According to the report, the possible sanctions range from a financial fine and a points deduction to relegation to a lower division or expulsion from the Premier League. Manchester City has until next Friday to submit its appeal against the decision."