have been found guilty of the ’s financial-rule charges for the nine seasons from 2009-10 to 2017-18, in a verdict that goes to the money behind the club’s rise. An independent commission said £830.69 million of sponsorship income booked in that period. It means about $1.08 billion was paid by the club’s Abu Dhabi owners, not by the sponsors named on the deals. However, City rejected the finding and have until Friday, 2 October 2026, to appeal.
The said Manchester City arranged “sham” contracts with commercial partners, and relied on “sham” agreements with others, “to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs.” It called the main device a disguised funding scheme.
Between 2009-10 and 2017-18, booked £949.94 million from Abu Dhabi-based sponsors. The commission said only £119.25 million was the base fee paid by those sponsors. The other £830.69 million, about $1.08 billion, depending on the exchange rate, was paid by Abu Dhabi United Group, the company that owned the club, and recorded as sponsorship. Owner funding and sponsorship are not treated the same under the rules. Sponsorship can count as revenue. Owner money put in as equity cannot.
The sponsorship slice is the largest part of a wider gap. The Athletic reported that the commission found revenues overstated by £855.2 million and costs understated by £66.2 million. The Premier League said the schemes inflated income and cut costs by more than £900 million “to appear to comply with financial rules.”
Sheikh Mansour’s group bought Manchester City in 2008. In the first full year, the club made about £125 million, paid £133 million in wages and lost £121 million, figures published in the 2010 annual report. The first modern title arrived in 2012, when Sergio Agüero scored in stoppage time against Queens Park Rangers. Further titles followed in 2013-14 and 2017-18, inside the seasons under review. City have since won eight Premier League titles under this ownership and the Champions League in 2023.
Those later trophies are not part of the charges. The case covers how the accounts were drawn up in the building years, not a ruling that every trophy after 2018 was improperly won. Reported transfer spending in that window, including the 2017-18 defensive rebuild under Pep Guardiola, is background. It is not itself the charge.
The commission has published findings. It has not imposed a sporting sanction. Points deductions, a transfer ban, relegation, expulsion or a change of ownership have all been discussed as possible outcomes. None has been ordered. Whether old titles can be revisited is a separate argument, and it has not been decided.
Manchester City have rejected the opinion and said they will appeal. Reporting of the club’s position says the appeal will argue that the opinion contains “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.”
, City’s principal sponsor since 2009, was not named in the redacted findings. In a statement on 1 October, it said it “categorically rejects any finding, conclusion or implication that suggests the airline has ever been involved in improper commercial arrangements.” It said the league’s public account, “following a period of selective leaks and reporting, has further created damaging implications for Etihad despite the airline not being named in the redacted published findings.” Etihad added that it “will seek the relevant legal counsel on the options and recourse available to protect its interests.” The Premier League declined to comment.
