violations of financial rules
League raises serious allegations against Manchester City
02/06/2023, 3:20 p.m
The Premier League has been investigating Manchester City for several years, and it is now clear that the English champions are said to have violated numerous financial rules. In addition, the league was not sufficiently supported in the investigations.
English football champions Manchester City have to answer for alleged violations of the financial rules of the Premier League. As announced by the English football league, it has commissioned an independent commission to investigate the allegations against the club, which is supported by sheikhs from Abu Dhabi.
A Premier League statement read: “In accordance with Rule W.82.1, the Premier League confirms that it has today referred a number of alleged breaches of Premier League Rules by Manchester City Football Club to a commission under Premier League Rule W. 3.4 referred to.”
Manchester said it was “surprised” by the charges. The league was provided with extensive and detailed material to clarify the facts, it said in a statement. City expressly “welcomes” the review by a commission and emphasized: “We look forward to this matter being resolved once and for all.”
lack of cooperation
Man City are said to have broken numerous applicable rules during a total of nine seasons between 2009 and 2018. The league accuses club officials of providing incorrect financial information, “particularly in relation to their revenues (including sponsorship revenues), their related parties and their operating costs,” the statement said.
The second group of breaches relates to alleged breaches of rules “obliging a member club to provide full remuneration information in the relevant contracts with its manager” relating to the 2009/10 seasons up to and including 2012/13. The club’s manager between December 2009 and May 2013 was Roberto Mancini, Pep Guardiola’s predecessor.
The club are also accused of breaching league rules since December 2018, which oblige member clubs to cooperate with the Premier League and assist them in their investigations. Man City initially did not comment on the allegations. Anything is conceivable as a penalty, from financial sanctions to point deductions.
In 2020, Man City successfully defended themselves against a two-year ban in the European Cup before the European Court of Arbitration for Sport. The European Football Union UEFA had imposed the suspension for “serious violations” of the rules of Financial Fair Play. At the time, UEFA referred to a period between 2012 and 2016.
Manchester United’s city rivals have been owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group since 2008 and have won six league titles, two FA Cups and six League Cups under new ownership. Success comes at a cost: Since the takeover, the loss in player transfers has been around 1.5 billion euros.