Man City guilty of using ‘sham’ deals to distort finances, Premier League says

The Premier League has found Manchester City guilty of using "sham" commercial contracts to artificially inflate revenue and understate costs by over £900 million over nine seasons, from 2009-10 to 2017-18. This discovery could potentially impact the club's future title races, European qualification, and prize money distribution.

The independent commission concluded that City systematically broke Premier League rules for nearly a decade, though the club denies the allegations and plans to appeal on the grounds that the decision contains "clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe." The investigation also uncovered that some club witnesses provided false evidence, and the commission found City's revenue and costs were inflated and reduced, respectively, by the sham contracts.

No sanction has yet been imposed, leaving open the possibility of consequences for the club's past and future performance. The case has raised questions about financial governance, competitive integrity, and the Premier League's ability to hold its most powerful clubs accountable.