'Sham' contracts and a $1 billion lie: Premier League reveals Man City verdict as club protests innocence

Manchester City concealed in excess of $1billion in funding through "sham" commercial agreements, the Premier League has revealed.

In one of the most astonishing cheating scandals in sporting history, the Premier League has confirmed that City – 10-time English champions, with eight of those coming under their now discredited Abu Dhabi ownership – are guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the competition's financial rules between 2009/10 and 2017/18.

The independent commission, which heard a 12-week hearing in late 2024, declared that City arranged a number of "sham" commercial agreements during this period, which were part of a disguised funding scheme. Companies only paid a portion of the sponsorship, with the club's owners responsible for making up the difference.

City have strongly denied the allegations and have announced their intention to appeal.

What did the Premier League say about Man City?

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters called the case and decision "the most significant in Premier League history.

He said: “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.

“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.

Man City to appeal Premier League decision

City have until October 2 to launch an appeal and have confirmed their intention to do so. Once again, the club referenced a body of "irrefutable" evidence, despite it being comprehensively refuted by the independent panel.

"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," a statement read. "The club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums. 

"The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted.   Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe. 

"The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence."