Manchester City broke Premier League financial rules for nine seasons, an independent Commission has ruled. In a decision published on 29 September 2026, it found every charge of serious financial breaches proven — and all but one part of the charge of failing to co-operate — after concluding that more than 830 million £ booked as sponsorship income was in fact paid by a company of the club's owner. No punishment has been set yet, and City say they will appeal.
Where it all started
The story began with a leak, not a lawsuit.
- November 2018: the German magazine Der Spiegel starts publishing leaked Manchester City emails (the "Football Leaks" files). The Premier League opens its own investigation the following month.
- February 2020: UEFA finds City overstated sponsorship revenue in accounts submitted between 2012 and 2016. The punishment: a two-season ban from European competition and a 30m€ fine.
- July 2020: the Court of Arbitration for Sport lifts the ban and cuts the fine to 10m€. Most of UEFA's case was "either not established or time-barred" — UEFA's rules only look back five years — and City were punished only for failing to co-operate.
The Premier League's rulebook has no such five-year limit, which is why its own case could reach back to 2009.
What City were charged with
On 6 February 2023 the Premier League referred the case to an independent Commission. The league never published a single total — "115 charges" is the count the media settled on. The charges fall into five groups:
| Charge | Seasons | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Accurate financial information — sponsorship, costs, related parties | 2009/10–2017/18 | Proven |
| Full details of manager and player pay | 2009/10–2015/16 | Proven |
| UEFA licensing and Financial Fair Play rules | 2013/14–2017/18 | Proven |
| Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules | 2015/16–2017/18 | Proven |
| Co-operating with the investigation | December 2018 onwards | Proven, except part 4(B) |
The hearing
The case was heard in private in London from 16 September to 6 December 2024: 42 hearing days, witness statements from six people for the league and 24 for the club, and around 7,000 pages of transcripts. Then came almost two years of waiting for the verdict.
What the Commission found
The Premier League published a redacted, 40-page "core decision" on 29 September 2026. Its main findings:
- Sponsorship: over nine seasons City's accounts recorded 949.94 million £ of sponsorship from Abu Dhabi companies. Those sponsors paid 119.25 million £ themselves; the other 830.69 million £ was paid by ADUG, the owner's company. The decision says income was "hugely overstated by over 830 million £".
- Hidden pay: three separate arrangements paid people through the owner's money rather than the club's books. The individuals are redacted in the published decision.
- Image rights: a separate arrangement overstated income by 24.5 million £ and understated costs by more than 49 million £.
- Spending rules: City failed UEFA's break-even requirement "by a very substantial amount" in every relevant season, and failed the Premier League's profitability limit — a maximum loss of 105 million £ over three years — from 2015/16 to 2017/18.
- Co-operation: the Commission found the club "made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the PL investigation". One part of that charge, 4(B), was not proven.
The Commission said the club "clearly intended to circumvent the PL Rules", and concluded that some of City's witnesses gave evidence they knew "to be untrue". Taking revenue and costs together, the Premier League puts the total at "more than 900 million £".
Masters called it the core of the case: the decision "details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade."
What Manchester City say
City say they are "disappointed and surprised" by the verdict and remain "innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League". The club says the decision "contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe", that "a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions", and that it will be "relentless" in "any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums". Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak told supporters in a letter on 26 September that his confidence in proving the club's innocence was unchanged.
What happens next
Three questions are still open:
- The appeal. City have until Friday 2 October 2026 to appeal. An Appeal Board of three reviews the decision — it is a review, not a retrial.
- The punishment. In the league's words, "the issue of sanction will be addressed separately in a further hearing with the independent Commission". No date has been set. The rules carry no fixed tariff, so the Commission has wide powers; reports list fines and points deductions among the options.
- Other clubs.
Arsenal, 
Liverpool, 
Manchester United and 
Tottenham reportedly served notices in November 2024 reserving the right to claim compensation. None of that has been tested.
A separate fight that is already over
Alongside the charges, City went to court in 2024 over the league's rules on deals with companies linked to a club's owner (Associated Party Transactions). A tribunal upheld most of the system in October 2024 but found parts of it unlawful; the rules were amended; and on 8 September 2025 the two sides settled, with City accepting the current rules as "valid and binding". That dispute is closed and is separate from this verdict.
What it means on the pitch
Right now, nothing changes. Manchester City — managed by Enzo Maresca since Pep Guardiola left in the summer — top the Premier League going into the international break, and Erling Haaland leads the scoring chart with five goals in five games.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 15 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 12 |
| 3 |  Brighton | 10 |
The table only moves if the Commission hands down a points deduction, and that can only come after the sanction hearing.
Timeline
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| Nov 2018 | Leaked City emails published; the Premier League opens its investigation |
| Feb 2020 | UEFA bans City from Europe for two seasons and fines them 30m€ |
| Jul 2020 | CAS lifts the ban and cuts the fine to 10m€ |
| 6 Feb 2023 | The Premier League refers the charges to an independent Commission |
| Sep–Dec 2024 | 42-day hearing in London |
| 8 Sep 2025 | City and the league settle the separate APT dispute |
| 29 Sep 2026 | Decision published: charges proven, except part 4(B) |
| 2 Oct 2026 | Deadline for City to appeal |
When the Premier League returns after the international break, every Pundit Kings prediction is published before kick-off and every result stays on the public record — see today's board at [punditkings.com](/).
Sources: the independent Commission's published decision and the Premier League statement of 29 September 2026; Manchester City's statement of 29 September 2026; UEFA and CAS statements (2020).
Cover photo: the Etihad Stadium, Manchester — Arne Müseler / www.arne-mueseler.com (cropped by Blackcat), CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons.
