Tenberal correspondent Simon Wong reports:

Manchester City 115 Charges: What the Verdict Means and What Happens ...

A Premier League appointed independent third-person commission has found Manchester City to be guilty in 114 of 54 counts of failure to provide accurate financial information, 14 counts of failure to provide accurate detail about player and manager payments, 7 counts of breaching Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules, 5 counts of breaching UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations and 35 counts of failure to cooperate with investigations. The club was owned by Emirati royal Sheikh Mansour's Abu Dhabi United Group, from former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Mansour was the Minister of Presidential Court of UAE in 2004, Deputy Prime Minister in 2009 and Vice President in 2023.

Mansour ownership to the club is known for high transfer spending and directly sourced from the owner, as the Guardian reports that Mansour has financed over £650 million. Manchester City also has a gross spending of ~£1.94bn - £2.00bn, while Manchester United has ~£1.80bn - £1.90bn and Arsenal has ~£1.38bn. This move is so controversial that the UEFA then established the Finanical Fair Play regulations and Premier League remade its Profit and Sustainability Rules in 2013.

This has led to Manchester City becoming the fourth-most successful football club in history, with eight Premier League titles, four FA cups, seven EFL cups, and UEFA Champions League title in 2023. But these titles could be annuled, if Premier League decided as punishment.

The event goes way back in 2018, European Investigative Collaborations' Der Spiegel released a set of confidential documents, found by hacker Rui Pinto. Manchester City refused to provide direct response. In 2019, UEFA announced to open an investigation, following the reports, and the club "welcomes the decision." In 2020, UEFA concluded the investigation and found the club to be guilty of "serious breaches of the UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations by overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to Uefa between 2012 and 2016." The club was barred from UEFA leagues for two years, but the club appealed and overturned the rule. Premier League also initialised an investigation at similar time and found City to be in breach of severe financial rules, and said that it would refer its findings to an independent commission, selected by Premier League Judicial Panel.

The hearing began in September 2024 and ended in December, but the hearing and the result remained private. Last Friday, September 25, The Athletic found that Manchester City is guilty of 114 charges out of 115, and the club is expected to be appeal. Other rival clubs are expected to take legal action against Manchester City.

The events have taken 8 years until Premier League is expected to take action, and many has criticised the board for taking so long, as a result, in 2023 Premier League has introduced a fast track rules, and Everton and Nottingham Forest were prosecuted in 2023 and 2024 respectively under the new rule. New Premier League rules have been taken place since 2026/2027 season.

If the appeal is failed, Manchester City is expected to face significant punishment, even if it is not relegated. Heavy fines, points reduction or annulment of previous titles could be possible. As other clubs are seeking legal advices on prosecuting Manchester City (e.g. Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool), if they succeeded, each clubs could have a claim of over £100 million and City could lost half of its annual turnover.

The then-City manager Pep Guardiola said, "in the end, I know fairly that what we won we won on the pitch. We don't have any doubts." Ironically, the results of the hearing were leaked after he has officially leave in only a few weeks.

New York Times' editor said that it "threatens to rewrite years of Premier League history" and cause tension for the relationship between UK nad UAE given Mansour's governmental roles. Guardian's Barney Ronay wrote that City's "plastic success" was now "tainted", writing that "arguably everyone who bought a Sky Sports subscription in that period now has a legal claim against City"

Manchester City found guilty to 114 out of 115 charges, here is what you need to know

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