Manchester City have been found guilty of 114 of the 115 financial rule breaches brought against them by the Premier League, placing the club at the centre of the biggest disciplinary case in English football and opening the way to possible fines, a points deduction or expulsion from the top flight.
The independent panel’s decision covers conduct between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, a period in which City won eight major trophies and established themselves as the dominant force in English football. The charges also include allegations that the club failed to co-operate with the Premier League’s investigation from December 2018 until February 2023.
No sanction has yet been announced. The next stage is a sanction hearing before the independent panel, followed by an appeal that City are expected to bring. The scale of the case means the process could continue for months or years, leaving the Premier League season under a cloud while the club continue to compete at the top of the table.
City’s position remains that the case is not over. In a statement issued after the verdict became known, the club said: “Premier League process remains ongoing with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality.”
It added: “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 115 charges were divided into several areas. Fifty-four concerned the alleged failure to provide accurate financial information between 2009-10 and 2017-18. Fourteen related to the reporting of payments made to players and managers. Five involved compliance with Uefa rules, including Financial Fair Play regulations, while seven concerned the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules. The remaining 35 charges related to the club’s alleged failure to co-operate with the investigation.
At the heart of the case are claims that sponsorship income connected to City’s ownership was inflated and that payments to players and managers were not fully reflected in the club’s records. The Premier League also alleged that the financial information supplied by City did not provide a true and fair view of the club’s position.
The charges were announced in February 2023 after a four-year investigation. The case was then referred to an independent commission, whose closed-door hearing began in September 2024 and lasted about 12 weeks. The panel’s verdict was reached after months of deliberation and was communicated confidentially to club executives and selected Premier League officials before details emerged publicly.
City have already indicated that they will challenge the findings. Their appeal would be heard by a three-person board under the Premier League’s rules. Unlike the earlier Uefa case, the club cannot take this dispute to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, meaning the appeal will remain within the English football regulatory system.
The punishment could be severe. A large points deduction would immediately alter the current title race and could push City from the top of the table into a relegation fight. A fine remains possible, while expulsion from the Premier League is also among the sanctions available to the panel. The timing is as important as the punishment itself: if a sanction is imposed during the season, the league table could change overnight; if it is delayed until after an appeal, the effects could reach into a later campaign.
City began the current season strongly under Enzo Maresca, winning their first seven matches in all competitions and taking five victories from their opening five league games. They moved to the top of the Premier League, three points clear of Arsenal, while preparing for a demanding fixture against Liverpool after the international break. That run has now been followed by questions about whether the points already earned will remain secure.
The verdict has also revived the possibility of compensation claims from rival clubs. Several Premier League sides have sought legal advice on whether they could argue that City’s conduct affected their own league positions, prize money, European qualification or transfer decisions. The issue is not without a recent precedent. Everton were told to pay Burnley £35m after a dispute over profitability and sustainability rules, with Burnley arguing that the breach had affected their chances of avoiding relegation. Everton appealed and said they would “robustly and thoroughly” contest the ruling.
A similar challenge involving City could reach beyond one club. Teams that finished behind City during the seasons covered by the case could argue that financial breaches gave them an advantage in the race for titles, Champions League places or survival. The Premier League would then face the difficult task of dealing not only with City’s punishment but also with claims from clubs that say they lost money or opportunities as a result.
The case has brought back memories of City’s earlier confrontation with Uefa. In 2020, Uefa imposed a two-year ban from European competitions and a €30m fine after finding that City had overstated sponsorship revenue between 2012 and 2016 and failed to co-operate with its investigation. The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the ban, ruling that the more serious allegation of disguising equity funds as sponsorship contributions had not been established, although it found that City had failed to co-operate and reduced the fine to €10m.
City described that decision as “validation of the club’s position and the body of evidence that it was able to present”. The Premier League case is separate, covers a longer period and contains a much larger number of charges, but the earlier outcome explains why City remain determined to fight the latest verdict through the appeal process.
The club’s regulatory battle with the Premier League also continued on another front. City challenged the rules governing associated party transactions, which are designed to prevent clubs from receiving inflated commercial deals from companies linked to their owners. An arbitration panel found against parts of the rules, including aspects concerning shareholder loans, and a tribunal later ruled that some versions of the regulations were “void and unenforceable”.
In September 2025, City and the Premier League settled that dispute. City accepted that the current associated party transaction rules were valid and binding, and both sides agreed to end their legal proceedings. The settlement did not resolve the 115-charge case, which continued separately and was still awaiting a verdict at the time.
Former Premier League managers have now spoken about the impact of the charges on clubs that tried to operate within the financial rules. Mauricio Pochettino, who managed Southampton, Tottenham and Chelsea during the period covered by the case, said: “Whatever punishment [they choose], it’s impossible to turn back time.”
He added: “It’s done a lot of damage. Many clubs followed the rules and some didn’t.”
Pochettino also recalled Tottenham’s decision to go 18 months without signing a player while the club financed its new stadium. “They were so strict with us but also so lenient with others,” he said. “Because of that, that’s why I say: it’s all very strange.”
His strongest criticism concerned the effect on the competition itself. “It is a huge sadness. We get into a situation where what got celebrated wasn’t that real, what seemed good maybe wasn’t so good, what didn’t look good maybe was good but couldn’t be good because of what happened,” Pochettino said. “We went through something where sporting fairness didn’t exist. So, how do you repair everything that was damaged because of that, if it’s true all of the 114 rules that were broken, we’ve lived through a period of deception.”
Roberto Mancini, who led City to their first top-flight title in more than four decades in 2012, rejected renewed questions about a reported dual contract during his time as manager. “It’s not a problem that concerns me, for one thing,” Mancini said. “It’s nothing new, because I think it’s been coming up every now and then for four or five years. Manchester City isn’t guilty, and the dual contract issue absolutely doesn’t concern me. It’s their problem, if anything.”
The latest development has also cast a new light on City’s summer spending. Club executives were informed of the panel’s findings during the summer, before the verdict became public, while the club completed a transfer campaign worth more than £450m. City signed seven senior players, including Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116m and Enzo Fernández from Chelsea for a joint British-record £125m. The Anderson deal was agreed on 2 July and completed later that month.
City declined to discuss the timing of the verdict or their transfer dealings. The Premier League has also declined to comment on the confidential process. For now, the club remains at the top of the table, its players continue to prepare for the next match and the trophies won during the years covered by the case remain in its record.
But the independent panel’s decision has changed the meaning of the season. The next ruling will determine whether City keep their points, whether rival clubs receive compensation and whether titles from the most successful period in the club’s history remain untouched. Until the sanction hearing and appeal are complete, English football will continue to play on while waiting to discover what the verdict will ultimately mean.