After years of investigations and hearings, Manchester City have been found guilty of almost all of the 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial fair play rules, according to reports on Friday. Below is a timeline of Manchester City’s Premier League financial rules case – from the charges brought in February 2023 to the reported verdict on Friday. The Premier League refers City to an independent commission over more than 100 alleged breaches of financial rules.
City were alleged to have committed multiple financial breaches such as failing to provide accurate financial information, Financial Fair Play breaches, failure to cooperate with investigations, breaching profitability and sustainability regulations and failure to report contracts. City manager Pep Guardiola says the club have already been “condemned” after being charged by the Premier League. With UEFA, the club proved it was completely innocent.
We are lucky we live in a marvellous country where everyone is innocent until proven guilty,” Guardiola said. In fact, while CAS found that some alleged breaches of overstating sponsorship revenue were not established, other allegations were “time-barred” because they fell outside the five-year statutory limit for prosecution. CAS also ruled that City showed a “blatant disregard” and “severe” failure to cooperate with UEFA’s investigators.
Guardiola says he would like the financial charges against the club to be dealt with “as soon as possible” after City secured a fifth league title in six seasons under the Spaniard. Why don’t we do it quicker? In 24 hours, sit down with lawyers present.
Let’s have it as soon as possible for the benefit of everyone,” he said. City Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said the club were frustrated by the situation, saying it detracted from the achievements of the team after they achieved a treble. City say they earned revenues of 712.8 million pounds ($876.17m) to June 2023 – an increase of 99.8m (16.3 percent) over the previous season, along with a record net profit of 80.4 million pounds ($106.5m).
Premier League CEO Richard Masters tells the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee of the UK Parliament that a hearing date has been set for City’s financial rule breach charges. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you when that is but it is progressing,” Masters said. Hearing into City’s alleged violations of the Premier League’s financial regulations begins.
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