{
  "id": 10854913,
  "title": "Man City guilty of using 'sham' deals to distort finances, Premier League says",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/man-city-guilty-of-using-sham-deals-to-distort-finances-premier",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-30T04:01:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Jakarta Post",
    "slug": "the-jakarta-post",
    "url": "https://www.thejakartapost.com/sports/2026/09/30/man-city-guilty-of-using-sham-deals-to-distort-finances-premier-league-says.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Manchester City Football Club has been found guilty of using sham commercial contracts to manipulate their financial records, according to an independent commission ruling by the Premier League. The investigation found that City inflated their revenue and understated their costs by more than £900 million over a nine-year period, from the 2009-10 to the 2017-18 seasons. The commission also revealed that several sponsors provided only a portion of the fees recorded in the agreements, with the remainder funded by City's owner, Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd. Furthermore, the commission uncovered witness testimonies that were deemed false and misleading. While the club has dismissed the allegations and plans to appeal, the potential consequences could significantly impact their performance, including title races, European qualification, and prize money distribution. The Premier League's chief executive, Richard Masters, emphasized that this case is the most significant in the league's history, though key elements of the ruling remain unresolved.",
  "summary": "Manchester City used \"sham\" commercial contracts as part of schemes to inflate revenue and understate costs by more than £900 million over nearly a decade, the Premier League said on Tuesday after an independent commission ruled the club guilty of serious breaches of financial rules.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "KahawaTungu",
        "title": "Manchester City Found Guilty of Premier League Financial Breaches",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/manchester-city-found-guilty-of-premier-league-financial-breaches",
        "published": "2026-09-29T18:04:38.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Man City guilty of using ‘sham’ deals to distort finances, Premier League says",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/man-city-guilty-of-using-sham-deals-to-distort-finances-premier",
        "published": "2026-09-29T21:13:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Japan Times",
        "title": "Premier League confirms Man City guilty of serious financial breaches",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/premier-league-confirms-man-city-guilty-of-serious-financial-breaches",
        "published": "2026-09-30T02:40:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}