Manchester City have been found guilty of all of the charges related to breaches of its financial rules, the Premier League has confirmed.

A 40-page redacted summary of the independent commission’s verdict revealed the extent of City’s alleged financial rule-breaking, with the club found to have created “sham” sponsorships as part of a “disguised funding scheme” that boosted revenues by £900m over a nine-year period.

Without those revenues, the statement revealed, they would have significantly breached both Premier League and Uefa financial fair play rules.

A Premier League statement revealed “the club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators”.

The club said in a very strong response they were “disappointed” with the verdict and indicated that they would be “relentless” and pursue “all appropriate regulatory and legal forums”. That was followed up by a video message from chief executive Ferran Soriano to club staff proclaiming their innocence.

Manchester City have known about the verdict since July, which is sure to raise eyebrows in the Premier League given the extent of their spending during the summer.

What were the key findings?

In short they couldn’t have been much more damning of City, finding them guilty of fraudulent activity on an industrial scale in a period where they established their dominance in English football.

• The commission found almost all charges against City were proven, apart from one element of Charge 4(B). The exact details of that charge are redacted.
• The independent commission found that City inflated their revenues by £830m through a series of “sham” commercial arrangements that misrepresented the true agreements between parties.
• The commission found the club had filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of their finances from their auditors and football regulators.

• Without those arrangements the Premier League statement says that they would have “significantly” breached both the league and Uefa’s financial fair play limits.

• The scale of the misrepresentation is huge. A statement reveals “well over 100 alleged individual breaches of Premier League Rules across four broad charge categories”.
• The independent commission also found that the club made “concerted efforts to frustrate the Premier League investigation” over a four-year period and accused key City witnesses of giving evidence they knew to be untrue.

How did Man City respond?

In the strongest possible terms. City have claimed the verdict is based on false evidence and have pledged to take their fight through all possible avenues.

In a defiant club statement released shortly after the Premier League’s statement they said: “Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today.

“The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case. The Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums.

“The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted. Manchester City FC 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.

“The Club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.

“The Club is obviously restricted in what it can say further until all future proceedings are complete.”

That was followed up by a video address to shocked City staff in which Soriano said: “The whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation – that the owner’s personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi.

“This is just not true. Irrefutable evidence has been provided to PL commission that shows it could not happen and that it did not happen. This includes bank statements, money transfers, witnesses and everything necessary to categorically demonstrate the money did not come from the owner.

“Every other false charge that has been thrown at us comes from that simple, central and completely false accusation.

“Surprisingly for us and our lawyers after nearly two years the Premier League’s commission has issued an opinion that supports the Premier League’s conspiracy theory. To do so, the opinion had to ignore the extensive evidence provided by the club in order to reach a conclusion that is clearly wrong. Our lawyers will now file an appeal that sets out the opinion contains clear, material errors of law, principle and fact and that it is unsafe.”

What happens next?

The independent commission found that the verdict was its “final award”, which is why the redacted verdict has been released today.

There will now be a sanctions hearing – at which both City and the Premier League can put forward their case – and the club will find out their punishment. Given the unprecedented nature of the case, all punishments are on the table including huge points deductions, relegation and even stripping the club of their titles.

The club have until Friday to formally appeal the verdict – which, given the strength of their response, is sure to happen.

Clearly there are potentially huge ramifications for the club and for the future of English football. Four clubs – Spurs, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool – are prepared to take legal action against City and the bill could run to hundreds of millions of pounds.

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It also leaves the league in its biggest crisis. Premier League chairman Richard Masters said: “The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.

“It also vindicates the Premier League’s decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.

“It is a key responsibility of the Premier League to ensure that the Rules, approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition. It is paramount that the League remains competitive and fair for all clubs and for the fans. We take that role extremely seriously.”