Manchester City found guilty on all Premier League charges over rule breaches

· Guardian-PL

‘Sham’ contracts helped inflate revenues by £900m Commission finds club guilty over nine-season period Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, the league has announced. The league also said an independent commission had found City guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to cooperate with the league’s investigation.

Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, the league has announced.

The league also said an independent commission had found City guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to cooperate with the league’s investigation.

The league said the commission had found City used schemes “to artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than £900m during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules”.

It said that between seasons 2009-10 and 2017-18 City arranged “sham” contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of their commercial partners, filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of their finances from its auditors and football regulators.

City denied wrongdoing and have indicated they intend to battle to clear their name. The club have until 2 October to appeal.

Richard Masters, the 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.”

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