Manchester City Found Guilty on 114 of 115 Premier League Financial Charges

The verdict

Manchester City have been found guilty on 114 of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League over alleged breaches of financial regulations spanning 2009 to 2018, BBC Sport has been told, after the verdict was first reported by The Athletic.

The Premier League charged City in February 2023. An independent commission held a 10-week hearing that began in September 2024 and concluded that December, meaning the verdict has taken nearly two years to reach the public.

What the charges covered

The 115 charges broke down into five categories: 54 counts of failing to provide accurate financial information between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons; 14 counts of failing to provide accurate details of player and manager payments; 5 counts of breaching UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules between 2013-14 and 2017-18; 7 counts of breaching the Premier League's own profit and sustainability rules between 2015-16 and 2017-18; and 35 counts of failing to cooperate with Premier League investigators between December 2018 and February 2023.

City's response

In a statement issued Friday, the club struck a defiant tone: "The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality. As such Manchester City FC's position remains consistent with the club's statement of February 2023. The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence."

The Premier League declined to comment.

What happens next

No sanctions have been decided. A written judgment from the independent panel is still pending, and possible penalties range from a points deduction to a fine to expulsion from the league. City are expected to appeal, reportedly to be led again by Lord Pannick KC, the barrister who helped the club overturn a two-year UEFA European ban back in 2020. Unlike that case, this Premier League verdict cannot be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The scale of the case

For context, Everton and Nottingham Forest were docked points in the 2023-24 season for single-charge breaches of the league's profit and sustainability rules, far simpler cases than City's. Chelsea separately settled 74 charges with the Premier League by paying a 10 million pound fine.

City won three Premier League titles during the period covered by the charges, in 2011-12, 2013-14 and 2017-18, along with an FA Cup and three League Cups. Pep Guardiola, who managed the club for the final two seasons of the charged period before leaving last year, had previously said the club felt already "condemned" by the charges themselves.

With sanctions still undecided and an appeal expected, the story is far from over, but Friday's verdict is the first concrete outcome in a case that has hung over Manchester City for more than three years.