The verdict follows one of the longest and most complex disciplinary cases in English football. Manchester City have consistently denied wrongdoing and are expected to appeal if the reported findings are formally confirmed.
The Premier League charged City with 115 alleged breaches in February 2023. The allegations cover five areas of the competition’s regulations.
They include 54 alleged failures to provide accurate financial information between 2009-10 and 2017-18, 14 relating to information about player and manager payments, five concerning UEFA regulations including Financial Fair Play, seven involving the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules and 35 alleged failures to cooperate with the league’s investigation.
The most serious allegations concern whether City accurately reported their revenues and expenditure, including sponsorship income, as well as whether information concerning player and manager salaries was complete.
The case developed from revelations linked to Football Leaks. In 2018, German publication Der Spiegel published leaked documents that allegedly suggested City had inflated the value of certain sponsorship arrangements and concealed owner funding as sponsorship revenue.
The reports also raised allegations concerning payments to former manager Roberto Mancini and player remuneration.
City rejected the allegations and argued that the documents had been obtained unlawfully.
The Premier League subsequently opened its own investigation, eventually bringing the 115 charges in 2023.
The case has taken years to reach its current stage. A 10-week hearing involving City and the Premier League began in September 2024, after which the matter went before an independent commission.
The commission, rather than the Premier League itself, is responsible for determining the charges. It consists of three members appointed by the independent chair of the Premier League’s judicial panel.
City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has continued to insist that the club believes it can establish its innocence, while saying that strict confidentiality prevents City from discussing the details of the case.
Mancini has also denied wrongdoing in relation to the allegations concerning his payments.
No punishment has yet been decided. If the reported verdict is confirmed, the independent commission must conduct a separate sanctions process, with possible penalties including fines, points deductions or expulsion from the Premier League.
City would have 14 days to appeal through the Premier League’s internal appeals process. A new independent three-person commission would hear any appeal, rather than the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which handled City’s earlier UEFA case.
The timeline for a final resolution is therefore unclear. An appeal could extend the process for years.
The case could also have wider financial consequences. Other clubs could potentially seek compensation if they argued that proven rule breaches caused them losses, as happened when Everton were ordered to pay Burnley £35 million following their own financial-rule case.
For City, however, the immediate issue is the reported 114 guilty findings and what sanction, if any, follows.