Manchester City have been found guilty of â all charges â of serious breaches of the Premier LeagueâÂÂs financial rules between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons, the league has said in â a statement.
City were charged in February 2023 with breaches of the leagueâÂÂs financial rules spanning nine seasons following â a four-year investigation.
The club said in a statement it would appeal.
An independent commission found that City âÂÂarranged âÂÂshamâ contracts (which âÂÂmisrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partnersâÂÂ, the league said on Tuesday.
The league added that the commission had found City used schemes âÂÂto artificially inflate the clubâÂÂs revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than 900 million pounds during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rulesâÂÂ.
âÂÂThe â core decision ⦠details how the club systematically â broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade,â said Richard Masters, the chief executive of the Premier League.
âÂÂThere are elements of the case that remain to be â decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches.âÂÂ
City, who deny any wrongdoing, said â they were âÂÂdisappointed and surprisedâ by the â commissionâÂÂs opinion.
âÂÂThe 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 âÂÂpositions, relating to this case,â the club said.
âÂÂManchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the âÂÂbasis âÂÂthat the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.âÂÂ