The Manchester City club has been referred by the Premier League to an independent commission which will be responsible for examining possible breaches of financial rules from the 2009-10 season, the governing body of the English championship announced on Monday. According to the Premier League, the defending champions have breached League regulations requiring the provision “in good faith” of “accurate financial information giving a true and fair view of the financial situation of the club” Mancunian, owned by an Emirati consortium since 2008.
The same source said the specific financial information required relates to “revenue (including sponsorship revenue), its related parts and its operating costs”. Another section also deals with alleged breaches of Premier League rules requiring clubs to comply with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
In February 2020, Manchester City were banned from UEFA competitions for two years by European football’s governing body for ‘serious breaches’ of FFP rules, but the sanction was later overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) in July of the same year.
A second set of listed breaches, relating to the 2009-10 to 2012-13 seasons, refers to an alleged violation of the rules “requiring a member club to include full details of the manager’s remuneration”. Between December 2009 and May 2013, the manager of the club was the Italian Roberto Mancini, the current coach of the Nazionale.
Record turnover in 2022
These alleged breaches also refer to requirements placed on a club “to include full details of players’ remuneration in relevant contracts”. Finally, since December 2018, the club have allegedly breached League rules requiring its members to cooperate and assist the Premier League in its investigations.
“The debates before the committee will be (…) confidential”, specified the Premier League, adding that there would be no other comment “until further notice”. In the spring of 2022, City won their sixth Premier League title since the 2008 takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group consortium, owned by Sheikh Mansour.
But the Mancunian club, despite their dominance over English football, have not yet managed to win the Champions League, of which they have only reached the final once, in 2021. Pep Guardiola’s Citizens occupy currently 2nd in the standings, five points behind leaders Arsenal. In the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League, they will travel to Leipzig on February 22.
City, crowned Club of the Year at the 2022 Ballon d’Or ceremony, announced in November that they had achieved a record turnover of £613million and a profit of £41.7million during the 2021-22 season.
Its chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, said City were pursuing “unprecedented goals”. As early as 2008, “our goal was clear: one day to be the club that sets the benchmark for others. The statistics and results show that in many ways we are beginning to deliver on our long-term ambition,” he said.
On the sidelines of this Premier League procedure, the Spanish league announced in June that it had lodged a complaint with UEFA against the actions of the English club, as well as against Paris SG, supported financially by Qatar.
