Premier League drop damning Man City 115 charges verdict as 'sham' contracts called out

· Mirror

The Premier League have released a statement after Man City were found guilty of breaching of financial rules

The Premier League have broken their silence on Manchester City being found guilty of breaches of financial rules calling it the most significant disciplinary case in the division's history. A three-person independent panel has upheld the charges brought by the Premier League to City in February 2023, over a year after the hearing ended.

The Premier League have now revealed that City were found guilty of 'all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation'.

City's transgressions include 'sham deals' that helped to artificially inflate the club’s revenues by more than £900 million. City strongly deny the charges, and are expected to lodge an appeal against the verdict. They have until October 2nd to do so.

The division has released a statement outlining where the club fell foul. Predominantly four areas:

- Manchester City arranged ‘sham’ contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on ‘sham’ agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs - The club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators - Manchester City was significantly in breach of both the Premier League’s and UEFA’s spending limits - During the Premier League’s investigation, Manchester City committed multiple breaches of its duties of co-operation and utmost good faith towards the League (three of the four alleged breaches were upheld)

The Premier League's statement added:

> "The independent Commission found that Manchester City arranged ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors during the period, which were part of a disguised funding scheme, whereby those companies were only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees. The remainder was funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club. As part of the scheme, further ‘sham’ arrangements, funded by ADUG, were entered into to enable the club to record lower operating expenses than it actually incurred, as well as a ‘sham’ circular arrangement with Fordham, an entity that purchased the club’s players’ image rights, that was funded by ADUG.

> "The purpose of these schemes was found to have been to artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than £900 million during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules. The consequence of this, as the Commission found, was that the club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators. The Commission concluded that ‘by its conduct the club clearly intended to circumvent the PL Rules‘.

> "As a result, Manchester City failed to accurately report its income and expenditure for the purposes of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules and UEFA’s Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Rules. The Commission found that, had all of the relevant agreements been reported accurately in the club’s accounts, it would have been in breach of both the League’s and UEFA’s spending limits by a very substantial amount.

> "In addition, during the course of the four-year investigation conducted by the Premier League, the club committed multiple breaches of its duties of co-operation and utmost good faith towards the League. The Commission concluded that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the PL investigation’."

Richard Masters, Chief Executive of the Premier League, said:

> “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.

> “It also vindicates the Premier League’s decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.

> “It is a key responsibility of the Premier League to ensure that the Rules, approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition. It is paramount that the League remains competitive and fair for all clubs and for the fans. We take that role extremely seriously.

> “This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history. There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches. 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.”

Manchester City maintain their innocence and have expressed their shock at the independent panel's decision. They claim to have irrefutable evidence.

> "Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today," they said.

> "The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case. The Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums.

> "The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted. Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.

> "The Club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.

> "The Club is obviously restricted in what it can say further until all future proceedings are complete."

The statements follow reports of the guilty verdict on 114 of the 115 charges surfaced on September 25. At that time, City released a statement via a spokesperson.

“The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality," it read. "As such Manchester City FC’s position remains consistent with the club’s statement of February 2023.

> “The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis the Premier League board and executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair minded regulator, free from partisan influence.”

Around 24 hours later, City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak published an open letter to fans. "I have been part of this Club for 18 years," it read.

> "I have had the privilege to stand with you in the Etihad, at Wembley, and in Istanbul. This Club matters to me, and you have shown and told me – time and time again - how much Manchester City matters to you. This is why I am writing to you today.

> "Following Friday’s media reporting, many of you will have spent your evening answering questions and responding to messages from friends, family and colleagues. So have I. Here’s what I said to my family: The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the Club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began.

> "There are so many things that I would like to be able to share with you to help you understand why we feel so confident in our position. But the strict confidentiality of the legal process and our determination to respect it means I cannot do that at the moment. Even this letter underwent several legal checks to make sure it complies.

> "I ask you to please carefully read the statement below, which we gave on Friday, and the statement we issued in February 2023. Every word matters and holds true.

> "While some people have been quick to reach their own conclusions, and there is so much noise swirling around us, nothing has changed. We have faced challenges together before and have prevailed. There remain many who want to undermine the momentum of our Club. We will not give them that opportunity.

> "We have some exciting moments to look forward to after this international break. We travel to Anfield in a fortnight, and then host Paris St Germain in the Champions League back at Etihad Stadium - moments that give us an opportunity to celebrate the strength of the Manchester City family.

> "Thank you, as always, for your constant support."

The aforementioned statement released by City in 2023, when the charges were first brought to them, said:

> "Manchester City FC is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules, particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with.

> "The Club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent Commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position. As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all."

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