Manchester City executives were served Premier League legal papers on Monday morning, announcing the charges over alleged financial rule breaches which could lead to a points deduction or expulsion from the English top flight.
The charges against City relate to financial information regarding revenue, details of manager and player remuneration, UEFA regulations, profitability and sustainability and co-operation with Premier League investigations.
According to a statement from the league, the alleged breaches were committed from September 2009 to to the 2017-18 season and will now be referred to an independent commission.
Also, it adds that City is alleged to have breached league rules requiring provision ‘in utmost good faith’ of ‘accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position’.
Should Man City be found guilty, they face a points deduction or even an expulsion – though it could take years to come to a conclusion.
It is understood that papers were served on City at the same time the Premier League announced the charges.
An executive-level phone call from the competition to the club also took place but no prior warning was given to the club.
The Premier League said in a statement: “In accordance with Premier League Rule W.82.1, the Premier League confirms that it has today referred a number of alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules by Manchester City Football Club to a Commission.”
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And reacting to the charges, City in a statement said they were surprised to hear of the alleged breaches.
“Manchester City FC is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules, particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with.
“The Club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent Commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.
“As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.”
City have vehemently denied any breaches of financial rules but the investigation started in December 2018 after German website Der Spiegel published documents from Football Leaks cache which had originated from Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto.
It alleged that City had overstated sponsorship income with money paid from the club’s owners instead of sponsors linked to Abu Dhabi.
Roberto Mancini’s wages were said to have doubled via a secret contract with an Abu Dhabi club when he was at City, while they were also alleged to have broken rules over approaching young players.
The Mail on Sunday has led the way on reporting the story. In July 2021, they reported on emails that appeared to suggest that City had millions funnelled into the club by Abu Dhabi to help inflate their income.
Back in February 2020, the club were banned from the Champions League and fined £25million after they were found to have seriously misled European footballing governing body UEFA and broken financial fair play rules.
This was then lifted by the court of arbitration for sport which also reduced the club’s fine to £9m.
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