The Premier League have confirmed reports from last week that Manchester City have been found guilty on 114 of the 115 charges levied against them for various financial breaches between 2009 and 2018.
The League’s official statement reveals that City were found guilty on “all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules”. The one charge of the 115 total of which they were acquitted was related to their “duties of co-operation and utmost good faith towards the League”
(found guilty on “only” three of the four charges in that category).
The statement also reveals the staggering magnitude of City’s “sham” (their word) reporting, which inflated their revenues by “more than £900m” total during the nine-year period. Basically, every joke about City being self-sponsored by Abu Dhabi was true, with “a number” of sponsorship values inflated (actual values paid out well below what was reported) and circular funding through related companies for things like image rights and the like all contributing to the overall scheme.
The magnitude and breadth of City’s scam is absolutely staggering, which perhaps explains why they were unwilling to cooperate with the league (unlike Chelsea). Another key differentiator between the two cases (other than simply the number of counts) is that City would’ve actually been in breach of both the Premier League’s and UEFA’s spending limits without their false reporting, while Chelsea would’ve been still within those limits. So while we were able to get off rather lightly with just a £10m fine (and some warnings), I’d expect that City will not.
As per the statement, City have until this Friday to appeal (which they undoubtedly will); after that process is done (which is hoped will go faster than this whole saga overall), the actual punishment will be decided. (Which City will then probably appeal with CAS/TAS, but eventually something will surely befall them.)
