The Man City charges case moved from leaks to the official record on Tuesday, September 29. The Premier League published a redacted version of the independent commission’s Core Decision, confirming that Manchester City were found guilty of every charge covering serious breaches of the league’s financial rules between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons. No sanction has been set yet, and City now have until Friday, October 2 to lodge an appeal.
When we covered the first reports of the verdict on September 26, the league had declined to comment and the detail rested on unnamed sources. Tuesday’s statement changes that. For the first time, the league has set out in writing what the commission actually found.
What the commission found
According to the Premier League’s statement, the commission ruled that City arranged “sham” commercial deals with sponsors. Those partners were only required to pay part of the agreed fees, and the rest was secretly funded by Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), the club’s owner. The league says the scheme artificially inflated City’s revenue and reduced its reported costs by more than £900 million over the period. ESPN’s report of the decision gives the same figure.
The commission also found that City filed misstated accounts and broke both Premier League and UEFA spending limits. On the second strand of the case, the club’s duty to co-operate with the league, three of the four alleged breaches were upheld and one was not. The league’s statement quotes the commission as saying the club “made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the PL investigation”.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the decision “details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.”
Man City charges in numbers
| Seasons covered by the financial charges | 2009/10 to 2017/18 (nine seasons) |
| Financial charges | All proven |
| Co-operation breaches alleged | 4, of which 3 upheld |
| Revenue inflated and costs reduced | More than £900 million (Premier League figure) |
| Charges issued | February 2023 |
| Hearing | September to December 2024 |
| Decision published | September 29, 2026 (redacted Core Decision) |
| Appeal deadline | Friday, October 2, 2026 |
| Sanction | Not yet decided |
How City responded
City rejected the findings outright. The club said it is “innocent of the accusations” and that a comprehensive body of “irrefutable evidence” supports its position, as reported by CBS Sports and Sky Sports. It plans to appeal on the basis that the commission’s opinion “contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe”, according to ESPN. The club also said it would pursue its case through all appropriate regulatory and legal forums, which leaves room for a fight that goes beyond the league’s own appeal process.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak also published a letter to supporters on the club’s official website on Tuesday.
Man City punishment: what sanctions are possible?
This is the part most fans are searching for, and the honest answer is that nobody knows yet. The Premier League says sanction will be decided at a separate private hearing before the independent commission, and the outcome stays confidential until the league is allowed to publish it. The range open to a commission runs from a fine through a points deduction to expulsion from the league.
The clearest recent comparison is Everton. A commission docked them 10 points in 2023 for breaking the profitability and sustainability rules, and an appeal board cut that to six on February 26, 2024. But Everton admitted their breach and appealed only the size of the penalty. City deny everything and their case spans nine seasons, so any comparison has limits.
Two things matter for the timing. First, the appeal: if City lodge one by Friday, an appeal board has to hear it. Second, the sanction hearing, which the league says it wants completed as soon as possible. Until both play out, the table stays as it is.
Where City stand and what comes next
On the pitch, City lead the Premier League after five wins from five games, on 15 points and three clear of Arsenal, according to the ESPN table. The league is paused for the international break.
- Friday, October 2: deadline for City to appeal the commission’s findings.
- Sunday, October 11: Liverpool vs Manchester City at Anfield, kick off 4:30pm BST (11:30am ET, 8:30pm PKT).
- Wednesday, October 14: City face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, listed by ESPN for 3pm ET (8pm BST).
The league has also said it will publish the commission’s appendices when its rules allow, which could add much more detail to the charges than Tuesday’s redacted document.
