Manchester City have expressed disappointment and astonishment following a statement by the Premier League confirming that the club has been found culpable of all charges relating to significant violations of financial regulations.
In a comprehensive statement, it was disclosed that the club had orchestrated ‘fraudulent’ sponsorship arrangements, submitted inaccurate financial statements, and contravened expenditure constraints to ‘artificially enhance the club’s financial revenues and reduce its expenditures by exceeding £900 million throughout the relevant timeframe’.
The football club also committed numerous infractions regarding its obligations to cooperate and maintain complete transparency with the League during the protracted investigative process.
A censored version of the commission’s assessment, made available on the Premier League’s official website, confirmed that the club had been found culpable of all charges, with the exception of one concerning insufficient cooperation with the Premier League’s investigative procedures.
The club has until Friday to lodge an appeal and has swiftly responded to the findings released by the Premier League, insisting that it is not guilty.
City’s statement said: “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 have conscientiously adhered to procedural fairness throughout an eight-year duration based on the expectation that the Premier League Board and Administration would function as an autonomous, neutral, and equitable regulatory authority, insulated from biased considerations.
“The Club are naturally constrained in their capacity to communicate further until all forthcoming legal proceedings conclude,” it said.
The Premier League maintains that there are no predetermined consequences for financial regulation violations, which means City could face a deduction of league points, a monetary penalty, or potentially relegation from the Premier League.