EPL: Man City Prepare Appeal Over £830m Premier League Funding Judgment

Manchester City are preparing to appeal an independent commission’s findings that the club breached Premier League financial regulations over a nine season period.

The club faces a Friday, October 2 deadline to lodge its appeal against the commission’s decision, which was published after a lengthy investigation into the club’s financial affairs.

The commission found Manchester City guilty of charges relating to serious financial breaches between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons. It concluded that the club used sponsorship arrangements that artificially inflated its revenues and concealed the true nature of certain funding.

At the centre of the case is about £830.69 million in funding that the commission concluded had been provided by Abu Dhabi United Group, the club’s owner, but recorded as sponsorship income.

Manchester City disputes that conclusion and is expected to argue during the appeal that the disputed funds came from the Abu Dhabi government rather than the club’s ownership group.

The club’s lawyers had previously maintained that Abu Dhabi based sponsors received financial assistance from the Abu Dhabi government to meet their sponsorship obligations to Manchester City.

However, the independent commission rejected that explanation, concluding that the arrangements amounted to a disguised funding scheme.

Manchester City has strongly criticised the findings and maintains that the commission made material errors of law, principle and fact.

Chief Executive Ferran Soriano has also defended the club’s position, saying Manchester City possesses evidence that it believes demonstrates that the disputed owner funding did not pass secretly through sponsors.

The Premier League, meanwhile, said the commission found that the club had breached financial rules and had failed to cooperate properly with its investigation.

The commission also found that Manchester City had submitted inaccurate financial information and breached spending limits under both Premier League and UEFA regulations during the period under review.

No sporting sanction has yet been announced. The Premier League has said the issue of sanctions will be considered separately by the independent commission.

Potential sanctions under the league’s rules include fines, points deductions and other sporting measures.

The appeal will now determine whether the commission’s findings are upheld, varied or overturned.

Until the appeal process is concluded, the commission’s findings remain subject to the club’s challenge.