Manchester City have been found guilty of nearly all of the 115 charges of breaching Premier League financial rules brought against the club in 2023. The verdict, delivered in September 2026 after a 12-week hearing, is the biggest regulatory ruling in the competition's history.
The Premier League charged the club in February 2023 following a four-year investigation that began after the German magazine Der Spiegel published leaked internal emails, known as the Football Leaks, alleging financial wrongdoing. The charges spanned nine seasons from 2009-10 to 2017-18, beginning shortly after the club's 2008 takeover by Abu Dhabi interests transformed City into one of the dominant forces in world football.
The 115 charges comprised 54 counts of failing to provide accurate financial information, 14 counts of failing to provide accurate details of player and manager payments, seven counts of breaching the league's Profit and Sustainability Rules, five counts of breaching UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations, and 35 counts of failing to cooperate with the investigation.
A three-person independent commission heard the case over ten weeks between September and December 2024. In September 2026, The Athletic first reported that City had been found guilty on 114 of the 115 charges, and the Premier League subsequently published a statement confirming the club was guilty of all charges relating to serious financial breaches and the majority of charges relating to non-cooperation.
The commission found that City had arranged what the league described as 'sham' contracts with commercial partners to artificially inflate revenues and reduce costs by approximately £900 million, had filed misstated accounts, and had concealed the true state of its finances from auditors and regulators. The league said some sponsorship deals formed part of a disguised funding scheme financed by the club's Abu Dhabi owners, and described an image-rights arrangement involving the company Fordham as a sham circular agreement. The commission concluded that accurate reporting would have left City in breach of spending limits by a very substantial amount.
City issued a statement insisting the process remained ongoing and subject to strict confidentiality, maintaining the position it has held since February 2023 and pointing to what it calls a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence. Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak published an open letter expressing confidence the club would ultimately be vindicated. The club is widely expected to appeal.
Sanctions have yet to be decided and will be considered at a later hearing. Under Premier League rules, possible punishments range from a points deduction to an unlimited fine or even expulsion from the league. The case has divided English football: rivals argue the club's eight Premier League titles and 2023 Champions League triumph were built on financial deception, while City's supporters see a partisan prosecution. The club had previously been banned from European competition by UEFA in 2020, only for the punishment to be overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.