MANCHESTER — Manchester City have been found guilty of the majority of 115 financial rule breaches, 1,329 days after they were charged and two years and 10 days after the hearing began, plunging the Premier League into renewed chaos and uncertainty. The verdict was not announced by the league or the club but was revealed after The Athletic broke the story, with BBC Sport later told the verdict was sent during the week to club executives who had to sign a non-disclosure agreement to open the file.
Public silence from the Premier League has continued. City did not address whether they had been found guilty in a statement that made clear an appeal is expected and that the "process remains ongoing" from their point of view. The club has always insisted it has done nothing wrong, but with the charges so serious some form of points deduction now appears inevitable subject to appeal. Enzo Maresca's side go to Liverpool on 11 October when the Premier League resumes after the international break and could go six points clear at the top, a lead now clouded by the pending sanction process.
Deciding punishment should be quicker than ascertaining guilt, but nothing is certain. Because the charges were denied, the case will go to a sanction hearing convened by the independent panel, which BBC Sport has been told could still be months away with the result potentially not published until the appeal is completed. At that hearing everything will be on the table — fines, points deductions and even demotion. That differs from Chelsea's case earlier this year, when the Stamford Bridge club self-reported and admitted guilt and was able to negotiate a sanctioning agreement with the Premier League. City could try to hold their hands up and seek a deal, though that seems unlikely given years of strong denials, and the panel will have to comb through hundreds of pages of evidence.
The scale of the case points to a large penalty. Everton were docked six points, reduced from 10 on appeal, and then two points in separate cases for breaches of profit and sustainability rules, while Nottingham Forest were deducted four points for what were considered minor breaches. City faced seven separate charges on PSR breaches in the Premier League alone, plus a further five related to Uefa competitions, before accounting for allegations of inflated sponsorship revenue channelled through companies' accounts to meet financial fair play rules, payments to players and managers, and failure to comply with investigations. The period places an asterisk against the Premier League between 2009 and 2018, a span in which Chelsea and Manchester City were two of the competition's most successful clubs — Chelsea having admitted effectively cheating while City have now been found guilty of getting around financial rules to sign more expensive players than their finances should have permitted. There is no appetite within the Premier League to strip titles, but the threat remains.
The timing raises acute integrity questions. If the season passes with no sanction decision while a guilty verdict on the majority of counts is known, what does that mean for the competition? A penalty backdated to this season when finally awarded is seen as unlikely. What if Manchester City win the league? Coventry are third from bottom right now — what if they finish there, are relegated, but would have stayed up had City's punishment come this season? The usual process is for any points penalty to be applied immediately subject to appeal, and it could be so large it is effectively a relegation, while revocation of City's Premier League membership mid-season remains unclear in application. A huge fine alone would seem unlikely given points deductions for other clubs. The league usually asks for an expedited process from the independent arbitration company that handles disciplinary cases, but the complexities suggest this is not straightforward, and clubs are already seeking legal advice over compensation claims against City.