Summary

  • Premier League confirm Man City guilty of all charges related to breaches of financial rules - read full news story here

  • Man City arranged "sham contracts" with number of commercial partners as part of scheme to disguise secret funding over more than £830m

  • Statement says City were guilty of majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate - but exact figure not given

  • Man City continue to deny any wrongdoing

  1. 'City cannot stay in the league - they have to suffer'published at 18:24 BST

    Former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein on Radio 5 Live: "It is damming beyond belief. My immediate thoughts are, should the board continue? Should the people involved be suspended immediately?

    "Very, very serious. I think it's really terrible. There's a school of thought with lawyers that is deny, deny, deny, but this is a football club that is part of a league and the whole credibility of the league is at stake here.

    "I would go as far [to stay it is a deep-seated form of fraud] and if it is, I'm not a lawyer but as a thought this is something so serious that it goes beyond the football authorities.

    "The sanctions cannot just be financial, so it's got to be way beyond that. If the appeal fails, Manchester City cannot stay in the league, they have to suffer. And I say that as a supporter and a fan."

  2. Postpublished at 18:21 BST

    Manchester City

    .Image source, Getty Images

    The question everyone wants to know: will Manchester City be allowed to remain in the Premier League after this?

  3. Postpublished at 18:17 BST

    Kieran Maguire
    Football finance expert on X

    The Premier League commission accuses some witnesses of giving false evidence and being dishonest.

  4. 'Brutal statement'published at 18:14 BST

    Mark Ogden
    Senior writer for ESPN on X

    The wording of the Premier League statement is so brutal that if Manchester City fail to win their appeal, the sanctions will be enormous.

    Read the statement here., external

  5. Story of Man City and the 115 chargespublished at 18:10 BST

    .

    This is a complex story - one that could define this Premier League era - with a lot of key players and a lot of complicated information.

    For the full story on the 115 charges, what has happened, who is involved and everything else you need to know, head over to our in depth piece here.

  6. Club revenue 'artificially inflated' by £830mpublished at 18:06 BST

    Premier League

    .Image source, Getty Images

    In relation to the 'sham' contracts, the Premier League statement says:

    "The independent Commission found that Manchester City arranged ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors during the period, which were part of a disguised funding scheme, whereby those companies were only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees. The remainder was funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club. As part of the scheme, further ‘sham’ arrangements, funded by ADUG, were entered into to enable the club to record lower operating expenses than it actually incurred, as well as a ‘sham’ circular arrangement with Fordham, an entity that purchased the club’s players’ image rights, that was funded by ADUG.

    "The purpose of these schemes was found to have been to artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than £900 million during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules. The consequence of this, as the Commission found, was that the club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators. The Commission concluded that 'by its conduct the club clearly intended to circumvent the PL Rules'."

    The sham commercial deals were described as being part of a "disguised funding scheme" to the scale of £830.69m.

  7. Man City? I feel cheated - when do Stoke City get our FA Cup?published at 18:02 BST

    Tony Pulis
    Former Stoke City manager and BBC Sport columnist

    When do we get our FA Cup?

    That is what all Stoke City fans have been asking me since the news broke on Friday that Manchester City had been found guilty of breaking the majority of the 115 financial rules they have been accused of breaching.

    I thought exactly the same.

    While the process is far from over because Manchester City are expected to appeal, I have to say this verdict and the whole situation has left a very sour taste in my mouth.

    Taking my Stoke side to the 2011 FA Cup final was one of the highlights - if not THE highlight - of my 50 years in football as a player and manager.

    That day in May will also live long in the memory of all Stoke fans who followed their team to Wembley dreaming that they would win the greatest club cup competition in world football for the first time in their long history.

    The club we were playing, Manchester City, were on their way to dominating English football.

    At that time they had not won a major trophy for 35 years but they were a team that, in transfer fees and wages, cost well above anything Stoke City could ever aspire to.

    Read more from Pulis here.

  8. 'It's incredibly serious'published at 17:58 BST

    BBC News Channel

    Lisa Nandy, the Culture, Media and Sport secretary, has been speaking to the BBC News Channel.

    "It’s incredibly serious, the Premier League report is incredibly stark," she said.

    "Manchester City have the right to appeal. This is causing a lot of concern for City fans and all fans of Premier League football."

    You can watch reaction on the BBC News Channel live at the top of this page now.

  9. What happens next?published at 17:56 BST

    Manchester City

    According to the Premier League, Manchester City have the right to appeal the independent commission’s findings and have until Friday, 2 October to exercise that right.

  10. 'I've got no reason not to trust Al Mubarak'published at 17:51 BST

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    .Image source, Getty Images

    On BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, former Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart said: "I've heard everyone else go down every single rabbit hole, every single wormhole, every single discussion.

    "My honest opinion is I've got no reason not to trust Khaldoon Al Mubarak (club chairman). What he said is enough for me.

    "I loved how he spoke. I loved the letter because that was from someone who cared about the club."

    Read more here: Hart trusts Man City chair Al Mubarak over ruling.

  11. Postpublished at 17:47 BST

    Manchester City

    It's the international break, of course, but Manchester City's next Premier League game is away at Liverpool on 11 October (16:30 BST).

    Then back-to-back home games against Paris St-Germain in the Champions League on 14 October (20:00 BST) followed by Ipswich Town in the Premier League three days later.

    Will City fans boo the Premier League anthem against Ipswich?

  12. What have Man City been found guilty of?published at 17:44 BST

    Premier League

    The independent Commission found that between Seasons 2009-10 and 2017-18:

    • Manchester City arranged ‘sham’ contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on ‘sham’ agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs
    • The club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators
    • Manchester City was significantly in breach of both the Premier League’s and Uefa’s spending limits
    • During the Premier League’s investigation, Manchester City committed multiple breaches of its duties of co-operation and utmost good faith towards the League (three of the four alleged breaches were upheld)

    We'll break all those things down for you with the statement from the Premier League.

  13. City 'disappointed and surprised' and maintain innocencepublished at 17:40 BST

    Manchester City

    Manchester City have responded to the Premier League statement with a statement of their own:

    "Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today.

    "The 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 positions, relating to this case. The Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums.

    "The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted. Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.

    "The Club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.

    "The Club is obviously restricted in what it can say further until all future proceedings are complete."

  14. 'City systematically broke Premier League rules'published at 17:37 BST

    Premier League

    Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, said: "The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League rules for nearly a decade.

    "It also vindicates the Premier League's decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.

    "It is a key responsibility of the Premier League to ensure that the rules, approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition. It is paramount that the League remains competitive and fair for all clubs and for the fans. We take that role extremely seriously."

  15. 'Disguised funding scheme'published at 17:34 BST

    Manchester City

    .Image source, Getty Images

    They also found Manchester City guilty of all charges except one relating to non-cooperation with the Premier League investigation.

    The sham commercial deals were described as being part of a "disguised funding scheme" to the scale of £830.69m.

  16. What has happened?published at 17:30 BST

    In the past few minutes the Premier League has confirmed that Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of Premier League financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18.

    An independent Commission found that during that time period, the club arranged "sham contracts" with a number of its commercial partners, as well as "relying on sham agreements to artificially inflate the club's revenues and reduce its costs".

    The statement also said that City were guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate.

    The Premier League published a redacted version of the commission's report, which said the charges "concerned well over 100 alleged individual breaches of Premier League Rules across four broad charge categories".

  17. Man City guilty of 'sham' contracts & misleading accountspublished at 17:27 BST

    .Image source, Getty Images

    Hello and welcome to live text coverage following the Premier League's statement, external that Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules.

    We'll have all the latest reaction coming up right here.