Man City Found Guilty on 114 of 115 Financial Charges

An independent panel has reportedly found Manchester City guilty on 114 of 115 Premier League financial charges, with sanctions still undecided and an appeal expected.

Manchester City have reportedly been found guilty on 114 of the 115 charges brought against them for breaching Premier League financial rules, in what is being called the biggest regulatory verdict in the competition's history. The Athletic's David Ornstein first reported the outcome on Thursday, more than three-and-a-half years after the charges were formally filed in February 2023 and nearly eight years after the league's investigation began. City acknowledged the outcome while insisting its position remains consistent with its February 2023 statement, pointing to what it has long called a "comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence." Neither the club nor the league publicly confirmed the outcome on Friday.

Few if any disciplinary cases in English football approach this scale. The Premier League alleged City failed to provide accurate financial information between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, breached UEFA's financial fair play regulations between 2013-14 and 2017-18, and broke profitability and sustainability rules between 2015-16 and 2017-18, alongside a failure to fully cooperate with the investigation. City won multiple Premier League titles during and after the period covered, success rivals long argued was built on distorted competition.

The case has been a decade in the making. The Guardian recounts that UEFA found City in breach of FFP in 2014, resulting in a €20m fine, and that the Football Leaks hacking affair spawned reporting on City's finances that fueled new investigations. In 2020, UEFA suspended City from the Champions League for overstating sponsorship revenue, a ban overturned on appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Premier League began its own inquiry in December 2018, charged City in February 2023, and held hearings from September to December 2024. League CEO Richard Masters had said the verdict was taking "longer than anyone expected," according to Bleacher Report.

The club's response has been consistent throughout. "The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality," a City spokesperson said, adding that the club has "diligently respected due process for eight years" on the basis the league would act as an independent, impartial regulator. Rodri, who left City this offseason, told reporters he believed the club was innocent, saying any sanction "is not paid by money, it is paid with effort." The Guardian reports club executives learned the outcome after a shareholders' meeting in London and signed non-disclosure agreements.

Nothing changes on the pitch yet, but every sanction option remains on the table under Premier League rules: an unlimited fine, a points deduction, suspension from competition, relegation, or in the most extreme scenario expulsion from the league. Sports Illustrated notes regulations also leave the door open to retrospective action, meaning City could theoretically be stripped of league titles won during the period in question. The timing sharpens the stakes: new manager Enzo Maresca, Guardiola's former assistant, has City top of the Premier League with a perfect record through five matches, a start that would carry an asterisk for many rivals if serious sanctions follow.

An appeal is close to certain, and the timeline is now governed by league rules. The Guardian details that under rule W.86 any appeal hearing should conclude within 12 weeks of submission, with the appeal board's decision and full written reasons published within 30 days of the hearing ending. If City's appeal fails, the judicial panel would then set the level of sanction. The Times reports the Premier League is confident of victory against City in any appeal, according to Sports Illustrated. For now, English football has its biggest regulatory finding in a generation, and the fallout is only beginning.