Manchester City Found Guilty of £900m Financial Fraud Scheme

An independent Premier League commission has found Manchester City guilty of more than 100 financial rule breaches committed between 2009 and 2018, ruling that the club used sham commercial contracts to inflate its revenue by roughly £900 million, the Premier League announced on September 29-30, 2026.¹⁴⁸

The verdict

The commission concluded that Manchester City systematically broke Premier League financial rules for nearly a decade, arranging sham contracts with commercial partners to artificially inflate revenues and reduce costs so as to appear compliant with spending limits. Sources indicate that if the club's financial disclosures had been truthful, it would have significantly exceeded permitted spending thresholds.²⁶¹

Reports indicate that City's Abu Dhabi owners covertly financed over £830 million of the approximately £900 million total, with the funds disguised as sponsorship revenue; a separate account estimates the hidden financing at nearly $1 billion, describing an arrangement in which sponsors covered only a portion of their stated obligations while the Abu Dhabi United Group supplied the balance.²⁵

Richard Masters, the Premier League's chief executive, characterized the ruling as clarifying exactly what transpired at Manchester City during the period, calling it the league's most consequential case to date.⁶⁸

City's response and the appeal

Manchester City has denied wrongdoing throughout the process and says it will contest the ruling. In a statement the club said a "comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position" and argued the commission's opinion "contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe."¹⁴⁶

Chief executive Ferran Soriano sent employees a video message describing the ruling as a "Premier League conspiracy theory," while chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak expressed confidence in proving the club's innocence. According to Al Jazeera, City must lodge its appeal by Friday, with a new three-person panel to hear the case.¹⁴²

Lisa Nandy said of the findings, "It's incredibly serious, the Premier League report is incredibly stark."⁶

What sanctions could follow

A separate hearing is still to determine sanctions, which the Premier League says could range from a fine to expulsion from the league. According to one estimate, penalties could be far heavier than those imposed on Everton and Nottingham Forest, potentially reaching 40 to 60 points; even a 40-point deduction would have left City 18th in the table last season.⁴²

Former Football Association chairman David Bernstein said, "If the appeal fails, Manchester City cannot stay in the league, they have to suffer." Analysts have also noted it remains unclear whether players such as Erling Haaland have contract clauses tied to heavy sanctions, though the case has so far done little to stop the club attracting and keeping top players, including a reported $169 million signing of Enzo Fernández this month.⁶²

Legal costs and precedent

According to the Guardian, both sides have run up more than £100 million in combined legal costs over the eight-year case, with the Premier League's own costs expected to exceed £70 million. Under Premier League process, a winning party can typically expect to recoup about 70% of its costs from the losing side, meaning the league could be awarded almost £50 million once a compensation hearing concludes.¹

The case draws comparison with Everton, found guilty of profit and sustainability breaches in 2024, when the league pushed for £4.9 million in costs but was awarded £1.7 million after Everton argued the sum was excessive.¹

Background

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Emirati royal and UAE deputy prime minister, acquired Manchester City through the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008. Allegations of financial irregularities first surfaced in 2018 after leaked club emails and documents, and Der Spiegel published material that year alleging the club had disguised direct investment from its owners as sponsorship income from partners including Etihad and Etisalat. The Premier League opened its formal case more than three years before the verdict and says City failed to cooperate with investigators between 2018 and 2023.⁴⁹

The period under scrutiny coincides with City's ascent to the top of English football, a stretch that saw Pep Guardiola take charge as manager in 2016, the club sweep the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup in a single season, secure four straight league championships, and post a 100-point campaign. Commentary on the club's coaching legacy has used language such as "the biggest sporting cheating scandal ever" to describe the scale of the findings, and the club's rise is described by one outlet as having been achieved at least partly through evasion of financial regulation.³⁴