Manchester City are waiting to learn the scale of the punishment after being found guilty by the Premier League over all 115 charges brought against the club. At the centre of the case is a nine-season period in which commercial income recorded in the accounts far exceeded the sums the relevant sponsors were judged to have paid themselves.
In the dressing room
The independent commission examined City’s finances from 2009/10 through to 2017/18, a spell in which the club declared roughly €1.1 billion in commercial revenue. Its findings concluded that sponsors contributed only about €140 million of that total.
| Period examined | Commercial income recorded | Sponsor payments identified | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009/10 to 2017/18 | About €1.1bn | About €140m | About €960m |
The commission’s conclusion was that certain partners did not meet the full values stated in their sponsorship agreements. Instead, part of the money was supplied by Abu Dhabi United Group, City’s owner, before appearing in the club’s books as commercial revenue.
In simple terms, funds from the ownership were recorded as though they had arrived from sponsors. The commission regarded that arrangement as concealed financing, used to increase City’s reported income artificially.
The charge sheet and its consequence
City had faced 115 Premier League charges arising from the investigation and have now been found guilty of them. The verdict settles the question of liability, but not yet the sanction.
That is the next and potentially defining part of the affair. The punishment will determine how sharply the club’s immediate future is altered by conduct stretching across much of the period in which City became English football’s dominant force.
The week ahead brings the wait for that decision. Until the penalty is known, the discussion around Manchester City will remain less about the next fixture than the cost of the years already examined.
