Manchester City bombshell verdict finds club hid over £900m in secret funding

The Premier League has published damning details of the long-awaited verdict in the Manchester City case, which found the club cooked the books to the tune of nearly £1bn for almost a decade. An Independent Commission said that City used “sham” schemes to artificially inflate revenue and reduce costs by more than £900m during the period from 2009 to 2018, during which the club embarked on an era of unprecedented success.  It found that City “clearly intended to circumvent” Premier League spending rules and that without the misstated financial information would have breached both those and European regulations “by a very substantial amount”. Manchester City said they would now pursue an appeal “on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe”. “The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade,” said the competition’s chief executive, Richard Masters. “It also vindicates the Premier League’s decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.” Masters added: “This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history.  “There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches. Now we have the Commission’s decision, we are committed to moving swiftly through the remainder of the process, to provide certainty for the League, our clubs and fans.” Man City commission ‘regrets’ delays to verdict City were found guilty of all but one of more than 100 charges brought by the Premier League in 2023. The sole charge of which they were acquitted related to non-cooperation.  They are expected to appeal the verdict and have until 2 October to do so. When news leaked of the decision on Friday, City maintained that they believed they would be absolved. Punishments available to the Commission include expulsion from the Premier League, points deductions, fines and transfer bans. Both the league and City can argue what they consider to be the most fitting punishment, if the verdict is upheld. During the period under scrutiny, City won three Premier League titles and laid the foundations for a further five more – and a Champions League – in the following six years. The Commission, which conducted a 42-day hearing in late 2024, admitted it was “regrettable” that it had taken “much longer than we would have wished, and much longer than we had anticipated would be the case when the hearing concluded, to produce our Decision”.