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Manchester City to launch appeal as financial breach fallout grows
Confirmed
In Short: Manchester City has launched an appeal against the verdict that found the club guilty of financial rule breaches, according to reports. The club faces potential severe penalties including fines and the stripping of their Premier League titles.
The Premier League's independent commission found Manchester City guilty of 114 of 115 charges related to breaching financial regulations between 2009 and 2018. The club's chief sponsor has threatened legal action against the Premier League, while players and agents from rival clubs are exploring compensation claims for bonuses lost during the period covered by the breaches.
City's appeal must be heard within 12 weeks of being lodged, with a decision due within 30 days of the hearing's conclusion. The club insists that over £830 million in sponsorship deals were legitimately funded by the Abu Dhabi government.
. He stated, “I’m not getting directly involved in the process” when asked about the club’s situation.
Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester and a big football fan, has expressed support for Manchester City's right to contest the situation. He told 5 News, “It’s only right that Manchester City and Manchester City supporters have that opportunity to continue to contest the situation, if they don’t think it’s fair.”
The Premier League's new fast-track rules state that an appeal hearing must be held within 12 weeks of an appeal being lodged, with a decision due within 30 days of the hearing concluding. City are expected to argue that the rules were not in place when they were originally charged in February 2023.
The potential punishments for Manchester City range from fines to the stripping of their Premier League titles, with severe consequences like a points deduction that could lead to relegation also on the table.
The Premier League found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to financial rule breaches, including sham contracts and a £830m disguised funding scheme.
Background
The potential punishments for Manchester City range from fines to the stripping of their Premier League titles, with severe consequences like a points deduction that could lead to relegation also on the table.
The Premier League found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to financial rule breaches, including sham contracts and a £830m disguised funding scheme.
What's confirmed
- City sparked global headlines this week after they were found guilty of charges related to breaches of financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
- The Premier League said an independent commission found 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.
- Mr Burnham told 5 News earlier this week that “it’s only right that Manchester City and Manchester City supporters have that opportunity to continue to contest the situation, if they don’t think it’s fair”.
- Speaking to the BBC, the Prime Minister and former mayor of Greater Manchester said he was “not getting directly involved in the process”.
- Manchester City transfer updates, breaking news, latest injury and team news, match reports, fixtures and stadium updates from Manchester World.
- Downing Street has insisted the guilty verdict against Manchester City is “serious”, after Andy Burnham was accused of making a “frankly extraordinary” intervention in support of the football club’s owners.
What's still developing
- PM tells BBC's Chris Mason: I’d be ‘really concerned’ if Man City owners sell club Firstly, his fear – being "really concerned" – that the vast money from Abu Dhabi, that has transformed not just the club but parts of the city, could go.
- Andy Burnham's comments on Manchester City's rule breaches sparked controversy The rows circulating around Manchester City are huge, and they are only going to get bigger.
- The Premier League has concluded that City "systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade".
- It matters for Manchester, it matters for the Premier League and so, crucially, it matters for the UK's image around the world – because England's top flight is a colossal global brand.
- The man who was the mayor of Greater Manchester a matter of months ago is now the prime minister, and so finds himself caught up in it all at a local level, a national level and a diplomatic level.
- Diplomatic, because rows will rage over the extent to which City's ownership is separate from the Abu Dhabi state.
- It comes after the PM initially said he was "really concerned" at the prospect of the club's owners selling the club Downing Street has insisted that Manchester City are not "above the rules" after the Prime Minister was criticised for his reaction to the club's breach of Premier League rules.
- Without this right some mothers are being forces to choose between breastfeeding their child and earning a living, the campaigner said National Highways, which is responsible for roads in England, told LBC that 1,199 drivers had been reported in the previous 12 months - a surge of 25% October 2, 2025 was the day terror returned to Manchester with the attack on Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue.
- Cabinet members spoke to ministers in Germany, France, Italy and Ireland to discuss the possibility of utilising diesel stockpiles on Thursday Despite the land previously being classified as green belt, under new rules brought in by the Labour government in 2024 it has now been deemed as 'grey belt' Manchester City must face scrutiny from HM Revenue and Customs - after the club was found guilty of hiding income to evade Premier League financial rules this week.
- Nation states should never have been allowed to buy City and Newcastle – those rules simply must now be addressed, just as leveraged buyouts are no longer legitimate after the Glazer family saddled United with what is now over £1bn of debt.
- City’s conduct shows, quite rightly, that there is no way to beat the system.
- However, restricting English clubs to spending based on a maximum loss, or now 85 per cent of their footballing revenue, creates a ceiling, one Manchester City have been caught bursting through after the most seismic ruling in sporting history.