{"id":6636,"date":"2026-10-02T13:52:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T13:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=6636"},"modified":"2026-10-02T13:52:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T13:52:07","slug":"man-city-lodge-appeal-after-guilty-finding-in-financial-breach-scandal-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=6636","title":{"rendered":"Man City lodge appeal after guilty finding in financial breach scandal | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By <\/span>Reuters and The Associated Press<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Published On 2 Oct 2026<\/span>2 Oct 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Manchester City have filed an appeal against an independent commission\u2019s ruling that found the club guilty of \u2060serious breaches of the \u2060Premier League\u2019s financial rules<\/a> as it seeks to overturn the decision and avoid potentially severe sanctions.<\/p>\n

The league said on Tuesday that City had used \u201csham\u201d commercial contracts<\/a> as part of schemes to inflate revenue and \u2060understate costs by more than 900 million pounds ($1.19bn) over nearly a decade.<\/p>\n

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City were found guilty of all charges<\/a> relating to breaches of the league\u2019s financial rules over nine seasons from 2009-2010 to 2017-2018<\/a>\u00a0as well as three out of \u2060four charges concerning failures to cooperate with the investigation.<\/p>\n

The club has denied wrongdoing throughout the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cManchester City Football Club can confirm that at 7pm on Thursday 1st October 2026 the Club lodged its comprehensive Appeal against the opinion of the Premier League Commission, in relation to the Premier League disciplinary matter,\u201d the club said in a statement<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Club\u2019s firm position \u200cis that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

The appeal will be heard by an independent three-member appeal board appointed by the chairperson of the league\u2019s Judicial Panel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club lodged the appeal to the Chair of the Judicial Panel,\u201d the league said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cThe independent Appeal Board hearing will \u2060remain private and confidential until publication of the outcome is permitted.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Premier League\u2019s rules \u2060state that a hearing should be held within 12 weeks of an appeal being lodged with a decision due within 30 days of the hearing concluding.<\/p>\n

The appeal will take place in private, as did the original hearings. The board will review the commission\u2019s decision but \u2060will not conduct a full rehearing of the case.<\/p>\n

The board may dismiss the appeal, allow it, refer the case back to the commission for further consideration, or alter any \u2060sanction or compensation order imposed.<\/p>\n

A decision by the appeal board is \u2060final and cannot be challenged further except in limited circumstances that permit a subsequent arbitration process.<\/p>\n

According to the Premier League, potential sanctions against City could be a reprimand, fine, suspension, points deduction or, in the worst case, expulsion from the competition. No team has ever been expelled from English football\u2019s top flight.<\/p>\n

City \u200ccan also separately appeal against any sanctions.<\/p>\n

\"FILE
Manchester City\u2019s then-head coach Pep Guardiola, right, and Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak celebrate with the 2023-2024 Premier League trophy [File: Dave Thompson\/AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It remains unclear whether sanctions would be announced before the appeal is heard and whether they would take effect immediately.<\/p>\n

A league representative told the Reuters news agency they could not discuss the process for confidentiality \u200creasons.<\/p>\n

While \u200cthe case<\/a> remains unresolved, the season will continue with leaders City looking for their sixth straight league win when they visit Liverpool on October 11.<\/p>\n

City is likely to focus part of its appeal around the issue of how its Abu Dhabi-based sponsorship deals were funded.<\/p>\n

The commission found that sponsors in Abu Dhabi paid only 119.25 million pounds ($158.4m) of the 949.94 million pounds ($1.26bn) stated in club accounts with the remaining 830.69 million pounds ($1.1bn) being paid by the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), the private company of Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, which bought City in 2008.<\/p>\n

Mansour is a member of the United Arab Emirates\u2019s ruling family.<\/p>\n

City contended that \u201cno part\u201d of the deals was funded by the ADUG and, instead, the Abu Dhabi government, which owned the sponsors, had helped to fund the deals \u201cfrom time to time\u201d. And so in City\u2019s opinion, that source of extra funding was misunderstood, the commission wrote.<\/p>\n

The panel rejected that explanation by City as untrue, concluding it was \u201cconcocted well after the event\u201d to disguise the source of the funding.<\/p>\n

In an internal video to City staff obtained by broadcaster Sky News, City CEO Ferran Soriano said: \u201cThe whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation: that the owner\u2019s personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi. This is just not true.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, the Football Association (FA), the governing body of football in England, expressed concern that the scandal has affected the \u201cintegrity\u201d of the game.<\/p>\n

In its first reaction to the case, the FA said: \u201cThe independent commission\u2019s decision has significant implications for the integrity of the game. We are carefully considering the decision and its implications and will take action where appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FA added that it would \u201ccontinue to monitor developments closely\u201d and would not comment further because proceedings were ongoing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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By Reuters and The Associated Press Published On 2 Oct 20262 Oct 2026 Manchester City have filed an appeal against an independent commission\u2019s ruling that found the club guilty of \u2060serious breaches of the \u2060Premier League\u2019s financial rules as it seeks to overturn the decision and avoid potentially severe sanctions. The league said on Tuesday…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t