An independent commission has ruled that Manchester City systematically deceived the Premier League through an intricate financial scheme, finding the club guilty of serious breaches of financial regulations and a failure to cooperate with investigators.
The 40-page document, published on Tuesday, defines the club’s actions as a “sham” eight times. The ruling determined that Manchester City was guilty of all charges regarding financial rule violations and almost all charges related to obstructing the investigation.
According to the commission, the club’s owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group, recognized from the start of the 2009-10 season that achieving their ambitious sporting goals would require overspending that breached existing financial limits. To circumvent these constraints while avoiding the record losses suffered by other clubs like Chelsea, the owners engineered a “disguised funding scheme” that lasted for nine seasons.
The central mechanism involved splitting sponsorship deals into two components: a base fee paid by the sponsor and a “tagged sum” paid directly by the club’s owners. This arrangement artificially inflated the club’s commercial revenue in financial statements, creating a misleading impression for regulators and auditors that sponsorship income was far higher than it actually was.
The report details that between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, Manchester City recorded £949.94m in commercial income. However, only £119.25m represented genuine base fees, while £830.69m consisted of the tagged sums contributed by the owners. Additionally, other devices concealed £90m in expenses.
The commission rejected Manchester City’s defense that the Premier League had misunderstood the agreements, describing the explanation as a post-hoc concoction designed to obscure the reality of the scheme. The ruling cited a specific instance in May 2013, where the club modified sponsor agreements days before the financial year-end to plug a £9.9m shortfall in UEFA compliance without consulting the sponsors.
Another key element identified was “Project Longbow,” launched in 2012. While parts of this project were deemed legitimate, the “Fordham Arrangement” was found to be a front. This agreement allowed owner funds to be used to purchase the club’s image rights at artificially inflated prices, effectively disguising owner contributions as operating income. This resulted in £24.5m being wrongly recorded as income and £49.414m being excluded from expenses.
Beyond the financial irregularities, the commission criticized the club’s conduct during the investigation. It stated that several factual witnesses provided evidence they knew to be untrue, demonstrating dishonesty. The panel concluded that the club acted without “utmost good faith” and was reckless regarding the accuracy of its annual accounts, which did not provide a true and fair view of the club’s financial position.
The ruling noted that the conduct of undisclosed individuals, whose names were redacted, raised significant questions about integrity. These findings could have future implications for the new Independent Football Regulator, which has the authority to assess the honesty of directors and owners.
Finally, some accountability in football. It’s been obvious for years that the books didn’t add up. This report confirms what many of us suspected all along.
The detail about modifying agreements days before year-end is chilling. It wasn’t just accounting; it was deliberate fraud from the very top down.
Does this mean all their trophies are void? That feels like the only fair outcome if the financial deception was that systematic over nearly a decade.
I’m skeptical they can actually enforce anything meaningful. Who buys tickets for a ghost club? I doubt fans will stay away regardless of the punishment.
This is absolutely damning. Calling it a ‘sham’ eight times is severe language. The sanctions need to be real, not just a slap on the wrist.