Manchester [UK], October 2 (ANI): Manchester City have lodged a formal appeal against findings of an independent regulatory commision as they seek to overturn a verdict seeing them being found guilty of violating several Premier League financial rules, reported Goal.com.
An independent Commission has found Manchester City guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, including violations "related to financial reporting", according to the Premier League website.
The statement on the Premier League website said the independent Commission found that between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons, Manchester City “arranged ‘sham’ contracts with several commercial partners, misrepresenting the true agreements between the parties, to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs”.
The Commission also found that the club “filed misstated accounts, concealed the true state of its finances from auditors and football regulators”, significantly breached both the Premier League’s and UEFA’s spending limits, and committed multiple breaches of its duties of cooperation and utmost good faith during the Premier League’s investigation, with three of the four alleged breaches upheld.
Man City, meeting the Friday deadline, submitted their paperwork for appeal on Thursday, as per Goal.com.
The multi-time Premier League champions were ruled to have inflated their revenues by upwards of 380 million pounds. On Friday, City released a statement, denying any wrongdoing and maintaining their innocence, saying that the "opinion contains clear material errors of law, principle and fact and is unsafe".
"Manchester City Football Club can confirm that at 7pm on Thursday 1st October 2026 the club lodged its comprehensive appeal against the opinion of the Premier League Commission, in relation to the Premier League disciplinary matter. The club’s firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe," said the statement, as per Goal.com.
The statement continued: "The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case. We will continue to respect due process and are necessarily restricted in what we can say further until all proceedings are complete."
City is expected to argue that their key sponsorships were bankrolled by Abu Dhabi Government, not the club's ownership group. The outcome of this appeal could have a massive impact on English Football. As per current regulations, the newly convened judicial panel will look into the initial decision instead of a full re-hearing of the original case, meaning that Man City will have to prove the errors in the Commission's initial ruling in order to overturn the verdict and avoid sanctions. (ANI)
Manchester City file appeal against guilty verdict on financial rule breaches
