Manchester City have reportedly been found guilty on all but one of the 115 charges brought against them over alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations, according to The Athletic. Yet the extraordinary number attached to the case has often obscured a more fundamental question: what exactly were City accused of doing, and what could a verdict of this magnitude now mean?
The charges were brought by the Premier League in February 2023 after an investigation stretching more than four years. They covered financial conduct between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons, alongside allegations concerning City’s cooperation with the investigation from December 2018 onwards. City have consistently denied wrongdoing and previously said there was a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence” supporting their position.
What were Manchester City actually charged with?
The 115 charges can broadly be separated into five areas. The largest and potentially most serious concerned whether City provided the Premier League with accurate financial information giving a “true and fair view” of their financial position across nine seasons from 2009/10 to 2017/18. That information included revenue, sponsorship income, related parties and operating costs.
At the heart of that strand was the broader question of whether the financial picture presented by City accurately reflected where money entering the club originated. The significance is considerable because football’s financial regulations depend upon clubs declaring revenue and expenditure correctly; inaccurate information could potentially distort calculations determining how much a club is permitted to spend.
A second collection of charges related to remuneration. The Premier League alleged breaches of rules requiring clubs to provide full details of payments made to managers between 2009/10 and 2012/13, as well as player remuneration across seasons between 2010/11 and 2015/16. In essence, the league wanted to establish whether the complete financial arrangements involving managers and players had been properly declared.
Another group concerned UEFA regulations. City were accused of failing to comply with UEFA’s club licensing and Financial Fair Play rules over five seasons between 2013/14 and 2017/18, while a further group related specifically to the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules between 2015/16 and 2017/18.
The final section was different because it concerned the investigation itself rather than the original financial conduct. City were accused of failing to cooperate fully with the Premier League between December 2018 and February 2023, including requirements to provide documents and information in utmost good faith.
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What punishment could Manchester City face?
This is where the case remains unresolved. According to The Athletic, sanctions have not yet been decided despite City reportedly being found guilty on 114 charges, meaning there is currently no confirmed points deduction, fine, relegation or other sporting punishment.
The Premier League’s disciplinary framework gives an independent commission unusually broad powers. Available sanctions can include a reprimand, an unlimited fine, points deductions, suspension and, at the most extreme end, expulsion from the Premier League. The rules also permit commissions considerable discretion to fashion another appropriate penalty, meaning there is no simple equation under which a certain number of guilty findings automatically produces a predetermined punishment.
That is also why comparisons with Everton or Nottingham Forest need considerable caution. Those clubs received points deductions for breaches of Profitability and Sustainability Rules, whereas the City case encompasses allegations concerning the accuracy of financial information, remuneration, UEFA compliance and cooperation across several years. The scale and character of the findings therefore matter at least as much as the raw number of charges.
Relegation has inevitably entered the discussion, but there is an important distinction between speculation and the rules themselves. A sufficiently severe points deduction could have relegation consequences, while expulsion from the Premier League is also among the commission’s available powers; neither outcome, however, follows automatically from a guilty verdict.
The possibility of stripping historical titles has also been widely debated. There is no automatic mechanism stating that championships must be removed because particular financial charges are proved, although the breadth of the commission’s sanctioning powers has led legal observers to argue that such an order could theoretically be considered. It would be an extraordinary step with little direct Premier League precedent and should therefore not be treated as an inevitable consequence.
There is another reason why Friday’s reported verdict may not represent the end. The Athletic reported that City are expected to appeal, and Premier League disciplinary decisions can be challenged through the competition’s own appeal process. The Premier League had originally stated that proceedings would remain confidential and that the commission’s final award would ultimately be published.
What has therefore emerged is only one part of a potentially longer process. If The Athletic’s report is borne out by the commission’s published decision, English football will have received an answer to the question of liability; the potentially transformative question of punishment, and whether that punishment survives an appeal, is still to come.