The leadership of the English Premier League has officially found "Manchester City" guilty of financial misconduct. The decision on sanctions against the "Citizens" will be announced separately soon. This was reported by the EPL press service, according to UNN.
"The independent commission found the football club "Manchester City" guilty on all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over nine seasons, as well as on most of the charges concerning its failure to cooperate with the investigation conducted by the league," the EPL said.
The independent commission established that between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons:
- "Manchester City" entered into "fictitious" contracts (which distorted the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, and also relied on "fictitious" agreements with other parties to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its expenses;
- the club submitted financial statements containing false information and concealed the true state of its finances from auditors and football regulatory bodies;
- "Manchester City" substantially breached the spending limits of both the Premier League and UEFA;
- during the Premier League’s investigation, "Manchester City" repeatedly breached its obligations to cooperate with and act in good faith toward the League (three of the four alleged breaches were found to be substantiated).
The independent commission established that during this period "Manchester City" entered into "fictitious" commercial agreements with a number of its sponsors, which were part of a concealed financing scheme under which these companies were to pay only part of the relevant sponsorship contributions.
The remainder of the funds was financed by "Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd" (ADUG), which owned the club. As part of this scheme, other "fictitious" agreements financed by ADUG were also entered into so that the club could report lower operating expenses than those actually incurred, as well as a "fictitious" circular agreement with "Fordham"—a legal entity that acquired the image rights of the club’s players—which was also financed by ADUG.
It was established that the purpose of these schemes was to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its expenses by more than £900 million during the relevant period, in order to create the appearance of compliance with the financial rules. As the Commission established, this resulted in the club submitting financial statements containing false information and concealing the true state of its finances from auditors and football regulatory bodies. The Commission concluded that "through its conduct, the club clearly intended to circumvent the Premier League Rules".
As a result, "Manchester City" failed to provide accurate accounts of its revenues and expenses as required by the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules and UEFA’s Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations. The Commission found that if all the relevant agreements had been accurately reflected in the club’s financial statements, this would have resulted in breaches of the spending limits of both the Premier League and UEFA by a very significant amount.
"Now that the charges have been proven, the question of sanctions will be considered separately at a subsequent hearing before the independent Commission. In accordance with the Premier League’s rules, this hearing will remain closed and confidential until publication of its outcome is authorized. The club has the right to appeal the findings of the independent Commission and may exercise that right by Friday, October 2. The Premier League Board intends to complete the entire process (including any appeals and publication of the relevant decisions) as soon as possible," the EPL added.
At "ManCity," they said they were simultaneously disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission published today.
"The club is not guilty of the charges brought by the Premier League, and there is a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence in support of all its positions regarding this matter. Therefore, the club will vigorously and, if necessary, proactively defend its position before all relevant regulatory and legal bodies. The Premier League proceedings are ongoing, with a significant part of the process yet to be completed. Manchester City FC will now use the remedies available to it, on the basis that the conclusion contains clear material errors of law, principle and fact and is unreliable," the club stated.
It should be recalled
England's "Manchester City" were found guilty on almost all charges of breaching the financial rules of the English Premier League.