News

Updates on the Premier League case against Manchester City, newest first.

What happens next

• Appeal. City “has the right to appeal the independent Commission’s findings and has until Friday 2 October to exercise that right” (Premier League).
• Sanction. Sanction will be decided at a separate hearing before the Commission. No date has been announced (Premier League).

29 September 2026 · Commission decision published

The independent Commission found each of the charges proven, except Charge 4(B). Charges 1 to 3 cover the Club’s financial reporting from 2009/10 to 2017/18, UEFA financial fair play and Premier League profitability rules. Charge 4 covers co-operation with the Premier League’s investigation. Of the four parts of Charge 4, the Commission found the Club in breach of 4(A) “in the majority of the respects”, 4(C) and 4(D), and not in breach of 4(B) (decision, paragraphs 7 and 157).

The Commission found that “the Club made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the PL investigation” (paragraph 157). The Premier League’s statement says City arranged “‘sham’ contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties)” “to artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than £900 million” (Premier League statement).

City said it is “innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League” and “will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe” (City statement, 29 September 2026).

25 September 2026 · Reports ahead of the decision

Sky Sports reported that the inquiry was moving to an appeal stage, amid reports that most charges had been found proven (Sky Sports).

September – December 2024 · Hearing

The Commission heard the case between 16 September and 6 December 2024 (decision, cover page).

6 February 2023 · Charges issued

The Premier League referred more than 100 alleged breaches to an independent Commission. The alleged breaches concern financial information from 2009/10 to 2017/18 and co-operation from December 2018 to February 2023 (Premier League).

Background

For the full story of the case, see The story of Manchester City and 115 charges (BBC Sport).