Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has told club staff that the case against the champions rests on a false premise, insisting the club will appeal after a commission found it guilty on most of the Premier League charges first brought in February 2023.
In a video message to employees, Soriano rejected the allegation that money from City’s Abu Dhabi-based owners had been routed into the club through sponsorship arrangements. He described the Premier League’s position as a conspiracy theory and said the club had supplied extensive material to disprove it.
“The whole case begins with an untrue accusation: that our owners’ money entered the club through certain Abu Dhabi sponsors,” Soriano said. “That did not happen, and it will not happen. We have provided bank records, money-transfer documents, witnesses and everything required to show conclusively that the funds did not come from the owner.”
City maintain evidence was overlooked
Soriano said every allegation City regard as unfounded stems from that central claim. He said the club and its legal team were surprised that, after more than two years, the commission had reached a view supporting the Premier League’s case.
He argued that City’s evidence had been set aside and that the resulting conclusion was wrong. The club had already indicated in an earlier statement that it intended to challenge the verdict, and Soriano confirmed that position directly to staff.
The executive did not speak at the clubs’ general meeting in Copenhagen, choosing instead to address City employees at a time of considerable uncertainty around the outcome of the case.
Appeal window closes on 2 October
City have until 2 October to lodge their appeal. The matter will then move towards a decision on punishment, with the available sanctions ranging from a financial penalty to a points deduction, relegation or expulsion from the Premier League.
For now, Soriano’s message was an emphatic defence of the club’s position: City believe the money trail has been explained, documented and supported by witnesses, while the league’s case remains, in their view, built on a claim they say is simply untrue.
