Premier League Confirms Man City Guilty of 'Sham Deals' in Verdict

The Premier League has confirmed that Manchester City was found guilty of every charge relating to serious breaches of its financial regulations, including allegations that the club misrepresented its accounts by approximately £900 million. Our News Outlet Sport reported on Friday that City had been found guilty of a series of violations spanning a glittering nine-year period in the club's history.

The verdict sent shockwaves through football and could lead to severe sanctions, including possible expulsion from the Premier League. Until now, there had been no official response to the findings of the independent panel that oversaw a hearing which concluded in December 2024.

That changed dramatically with the publication of a lengthy Premier League statement. The league said Manchester City had arranged "sham contracts" that misrepresented the true agreements with several commercial partners.

It also said the club relied on other "sham" arrangements to artificially increase its revenues and reduce its costs. According to the Premier League, the club's financial position at the Etihad was falsely presented by around £900 million.

The league said the panel concluded that City had "filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators". It added that the club was "significantly in breach" of both Premier League and UEFA spending limits between 2009 and 2018, a period in which City won eight major trophies.

The Premier League has confirmed that Manchester City was found guilty of "all charges related to serious breaches" of the league's financial regulations Several sponsorship agreements formed part of what the Premier League described as a "disguised funding scheme". Under the arrangement, sponsors paid only part of the stated fees, while the remainder was provided by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), the company that owned Manchester City.

The Core Decision, released on Tuesday, found that ADUG had contributed more than four times the amount paid by sponsors toward the total sponsorship revenue recorded by the club in some financial years. In the 2013-14 season, for instance, Manchester City recorded £127.5 million in sponsorship income.

However, the panel found that sponsors had provided only £16 million, with a further £111.5 million coming from ADUG through the disguised funding arrangement. The panel also identified additional "sham" arrangements funded by ADUG that enabled City to report lower operating expenses.

It further found a "sham" circular arrangement involving Fordham, an entity that bought the image rights of the club's players and was funded by ADUG. The Premier League said the arrangements inflated revenue and reduced reported costs by approximately £900 million as the club sought to comply with spending regulations.