Manchester City have been found guilty of systematic financial rule-breaking covering nine years, involving more than £900 million ($1.2 billion) in inflated revenue and understated costs through what the independent commission called "sham" commercial contracts. The charges span 2009 to 2018, a period during which City won three Premier League titles while concealing the true state of their finances to avoid breaching Premier League and UEFA spending limits. The club was found guilty on all charges related to financial breaches and on most charges related to failure to cooperate with the Premier League investigation. City continue to deny wrongdoing and have until Friday to lodge an appeal. Chief Executive Ferran Soriano addressed staff by video, rejecting the commission's findings. Former manager Pep Guardiola, who departed in May after a decade and 20 trophies, posted a public declaration of loyalty on X: "Let me be clear: we will get through this together." The statement is notable for its framing — Guardiola positions himself alongside ownership, chairman, and supporters in a unified bloc, signaling that the club's inner circle intends to fight rather than negotiate. The punishment range is severe. Under Premier League rules, City face a substantial points deduction, a fine, or expulsion from the top division. Precedent from the 2023/24 season — when Everton and Nottingham Forest received points deductions for single breaches — suggests the scale of City's violations would make relegation the proportionate response. Former chairman David Bernstein was blunt: "If the appeal fails, Manchester City cannot stay in the league." Beyond direct punishment, a secondary financial threat looms. Former Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow told the BBC that rival clubs would be "queueing up to seek compensation," potentially costing City hundreds of millions more. Clubs that lost league positions, prize money, and commercial revenue during the period of inflated spending have a direct financial grievance. The case is fundamentally about whether the competitive structure of English football's top division has integrity. For nearly a decade, City operated under financial constraints that did not reflect their actual spending, gaining advantages that cascaded through league tables, Champions League qualification, and transfer market positioning. Every club that finished behind City during those years absorbed a cost they did not agree to. The appeal process will determine whether the Premier League's regulatory framework has enforcement teeth or whether financial rules are merely advisory for clubs with sufficient legal resources. The outcome will set the template for how European football governance handles state-backed ownership structures for the next generation.
