Manchester City Found Guilty of Financial Rule Breaches
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Manchester City charges: Premier League confirms club guilty of all charges related to financial rule breaches - BBC Sport
By Ffion Wynne, BBC Sport Journalist
Published 29 September 2026, 17:07 BST
Updated 1 hour ago
Manchester City have been found guilty by an independent commission of arranging "sham contracts" with several commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise more than £830m in secret funding. The Premier League confirmed the charges, which relate to breaches of financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
Key Points:
- City arranged "sham contracts" and "relied on sham agreements" to distort revenues and costs.
- The club continues to deny any wrongdoing and have until 2 October to appeal.
- The scheme involved "disguised funding" of £830.69m.
- City recorded £360m in sponsorship fees during three Premier League title-winning seasons. Only £43m was legitimate.
- "The relevant sponsorship agreements were found to be shams, or at minimum did not reflect their economic substance," the commission stated.
Reacting to the News:
Richard Masters, Premier League chief executive, said:
"The core decision establishes the facts of what happened and marks a significant moment in ensuring financial fairness in football."
The Commission's Findings:
The commission's report detailed over 100 individual breaches across four categories of financial rules. It also found:
- Several important Club witnesses gave false evidence.
- Some witnesses knowingly provided untrue and dishonest evidence.
The full report, heavily redacted, was published by the Premier League on Tuesday.