Man City fight back with 'PROOF' government paid sponsorship deals in appeal over 115 charges

· Mirror

Manchester City are expected to appeal against the Premier League by the end of this week after they were found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of its financial regulations

Manchester City are set to argue that the government of Abu Dhabi - not the club's owners - part-funded the "sham" sponsorship deals that contributed to them breaching Premier League financial rules.

An independent commission found that City artificially inflated their revenue by more than a staggering £900million across an eight-year period between 2009/10 and 2017/18 by using money from their parent company, Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), to significantly increase the size of their sponsorship contracts.

But, as revealed in a Premier League statement, the commission reached a verdict that these were "sham" sponsorship agreements based on a number of emails that detailed how City would attempt to use money from ADUG to funnel through a sponsor - including Etihad Airways - and then to the club.

But, according to The Times, City will argue that because Etihad is owned by the Abu Dhabi government, the deal is separate from the ADUG and indeed would be allowed under Premier League rules.

After it emerged last Friday that City had lost the case on 114 of the 115 charges put against them, senior figures at the Etihad Stadium have spoken out about the findings, which has since been published in the 40-page "core decision", submitted by the independent commission.

On Saturday, City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak outlined the "irrefutable evidence" that he believes proves their innocence, including how the money was paid by the government rather than the club's owners, ADUG.

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