Manchester City have been referred to an independent commission by the Premier League over alleged breaches of its financial rules, the English top flight announced on Monday. The alleged breaches span a period from the 2009/10 season to the 2017/18 campaign. City were banned from UEFA competitions in February 2020 for two years by European football’s governing body for “serious financial fair-play breaches” but the sanction was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in July of the same year. The defending Premier League champions are alleged to have breached league rules requiring provision “in utmost good faith” of “accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position”. The Premier League said the accurate financial information required related to “revenue (including sponsorship revenue), its related parties and its operating costs”. The second set of breaches listed refers to alleged breaking of rules “requiring a member club to include full details of manager remuneration in its relevant contracts with its manager” related to seasons 2009/10 to 2012/13 inclusive.
The club’s manager between December 2009 and May 2013 was current Italy boss Roberto Mancini. The second set of alleged breaches also refers to requirements for a club to “include full details of player remuneration within the relevant contracts”. The third section deals with alleged breaches of Premier League rules requiring clubs to comply with UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations while the fourth set of alleged breaches relates to the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules.
Finally, the club are alleged to have breached league rules requiring member clubs to cooperate with and assist the Premier League with its investigations, from December 2018 to date. The Premier League said in a statement said the commission would be “independent of the Premier League and member clubs”. “The proceedings before the commission will… be confidential and heard in private”, it said, adding that there would be no further comment “until further notice”. Last season City won their sixth Premier League title since the 2008 takeover by Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group — extending their dominance of English football — but have yet to win the Champions League. City, crowned club of the year at the 2022 Ballon d’Or ceremony, in November reported record club revenues of £613 million ($737 million) and a profit of £41.7 million for the 2021/22 season.
However, City said in a statement Monday: “Manchester City FC is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules, particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with. “The club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position. As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.”
