Man City financial investigation - LIVE: Premier League charge club and potential points deduction latest

Manchester City have been charged by the Premier League with over 100 breaches of their financial rules.

It follows a four-year investigation into the finances of the current Premier League champions.

In an unprecedented series of allegations, the Premier League said the breaches referred to a requirement to provide “accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position” in particular its “revenue”, “sponsorship revenue” and “operating costs”.

Manchester City announced their “surprise” at the Premier League’s announcement and denied the charges. The club insisted there is “irrefutable evidence” to prove their innocence.

Manchester City won eight pieces of silverware across a nine-year period in which they have been charged by the Premier League with more than 100 alleged breaches of financial regulations.

The champions have reacted to the alleged breaches, claiming to be “surprised” and that there is a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence” to support their innocence.

City overturned a two-year ban from Uefa in 2020 and will now brace themselves for the findings from an independent commission.

A number of punishments are available to the Premier League, should City be found guilty of the breaches, including expulsion and a points deduction.

The BBC’s Simon Stone says Manchester City are confident about their position in this case though the club are unhappy that the Premier League gave them no warning that an announcement was being made.

He says: “Man City were not given advance warning of the Premier League statement.

“They were called at the same time as the statement went out. They believe some journalists were given advance warning of the statement, which evidently, they are not impressed about.

“They also note the timing of the statement given the White Paper on football governance is scheduled to be published soon. It is felt that bringing this case it likely to be used by the Premier League as evidence of them being able to deal with governance issues itself.

“City are confident in their position and that includes the charges that were time-barred in their Uefa case. The club are understood to have provided the relevant evidence around those charges to the Premier League some time ago.”

It’s taken the Premier League four years to get to this point and form a case to the point where they are confident of bringing charges against Manchester City who will now do their utmost to respond to the accusations.

Do not expect a resolution to this case any time soon.

For years Manchester City have denied financial wrongdoing. Details into their finances were published by Der Spiegel - when it was passed information by Football Leaks - but the club claimed this information was incomplete.

Uefa then launched its case against City but the club had no faith in that investigation and, when it went against them, they went straight to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Cas cleared them of the substantive allegations, even though some were timed out.

The Premier League’s charge sheet includes five years of allegations that City have not assisted with their inquiry - which is all of it. The club will now have their lawyers on the case and it will be an expensive and time-consuming matter before any resolution is found.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has always said he was assured by his employers that they have done nothing wrong in terms of breaking finanical rules but the charges brough forward from the Premier League claim otherwise.

City will be challenging this allegations and should they win legally they will be clear, reputation untouched - mostly.

Should they lose, the punishments handed down would be unprecedented. The Premier League’s scope in that sense is completely open-ended and this is a precedent setting case.

City’s reputation is on the line and the outcome, whenever it comes, will be fascinating.

An arbitration panel ordered Manchester City to provide “certain documents and information to the Premier League and to make inquiries of third parties”, after the club lost a challenge over an arbitration panel’s right to hear the case.

The Court of Appeal ruling stated: “For the Premier League it was submitted that the tactic that the club has adopted has been to make as many procedural applications and complaints as it possibly can to slow the day when it will actually have to provide the information.”

Manchester City insist they are “surprised” at being charged by the Premier League with more than 100 alleged breaches of financial regulations.

The reigning champions could potentially be hit with a points deduction or even expulsion from the league if found guilty following a four-year investigation.

The unprecedented series of allegations from Premier League concerns a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018, with the club insisting there is “irrefutable evidence” to prove their innocence.

Kyle Walker has leapt to the defence of Manchester City forward Erling Haaland following Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Tottenham.

Premier League top goalscorer Haaland cut a frustrated figure in the capital and failed to have a single shot on target.

Haaland has scored 31 goals in 28 appearances since a summer switch from Borussia Dortmund, with 25 of them in the top flight but City remain five points behind leaders Arsenal after their fourth league loss of the campaign.

1. In respect of each of Seasons 2009/10 to 2017/18 inclusive, the Premier League Rules applicable in those seasons that required provision by a member club to the Premier League, in the utmost good faith, of accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position, in particular with respect to its revenue (including sponsorship revenue), its related parties and its operating costs, namely:

(a) for Season 2009/10, Premier League Rules B.13, C.71, C.72, C.75 (amended to C.79 from 10 September 2009 for the remainder of Season 2009/10) and C.80;

(b) for Season 2010/11, Premier League Rules B.13, C.78, C.79, C.86 and C.87;

(c) for Season 2011/12, Premier League Rules B.13, E.3, 4, E.11 and E.12;

(d) for Season 2012/13, Premier League Rules 16, E.3, E.4, E.11 and E.12;

(e) for Season 2013/14, Premier League Rules 15, E.3, E.4, E.11, E.12 and E.49;

(f) for Season 2014/15, Premier League Rules 16, E.3, E.4, E.11, E.12 and E.50;

(g) for Season 2015/16, Premier League Rules 16, E.3, E.4, E.11, E.12 and E.50;

(h) for Season 2016/17, Premier League Rules16, E.3, E.4, E.11, E.12 and E.51;

(i) for Season 2017/18, Premier League Rules B.16, 3, E.4, E.11, E.12 and E.51.

2. In respect of:

(a) each of Seasons 2009/10 to 2012/13 inclusive, the Premier League Rules applicable in those Seasons requiring a member club to include full details of manager remuneration in its relevant contracts with its manager, namely:

(1) for Seasons 2009/10 to 2011/12 inclusive, Premier League Rules Q.7 and Q.8; and

(2) for Season 2012/13, Premier League Rules P.7 and P.8;

(b) each of Seasons 2010/11 to 2015/16 inclusive, the Premier League Rules applicable in those Seasons requiring a member club to include full details of player remuneration in its relevant contracts with its players, namely:

(1) for Seasons 2010/11 and 2011/12, Premier League Rules K.12 and K.20;

(2) for Season 2012/13, Premier League Rules T.12 and T.20;

(3) for Seasons 2013/14 and 2014/15, Premier League Rules T.12 and T.19; and

(4) for Season 2015/16, Premier League Rules T.13 and T.20.

3. In respect of each of Seasons 2013/14 to 2017/18 inclusive, the Premier League Rules applicable in those Seasons requiring a member club to comply with UEFA’s regulations, including UEFA’s Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations, namely:

(a) for Season 2013/14, Premier League Rule B.14.6

(b) for Seasons 2014/15 to 2017/18 inclusive, Premier League Rule B.15.6.

4. In respect of each of the Seasons 2015/16 to 2017/18 inclusive, the Premier League Rules applicable in those Seasons on Profitability and Sustainability, namely:

(a) for Season 2015/16, Premier League Rules E.52 to E.60; and

(b) for Seasons 2016/17 and 2017/18, Premier League Rules E.53 to E.60.

5. In respect of the period from December 2018 to date, the Premier League Rules applicable in the relevant Seasons requiring a member club to cooperate with, and assist, the Premier League in its investigations, including by providing documents and information to the Premier League in the utmost good faith, namely:

(a) for Season 2018/19, Premier League Rules B.16, B.19, W.1, W.2, W.12 and W.13;

(b) for Season 2019/20, Premier League Rules B.16, B.19, W.1, W.2, W.12 and W.13;

(c) for Season 2020/21, Premier League Rules B.16, B.19, W.1, W.2, W.12 and W.13;

(d) for Season 2021/22, Premier League Rules B.15, B.18, W.1, W.2, W.15 and W.16; and

(e) for Season 2022/23, Premier League Rules B.15, B.18, W.1, W.2, W.15 and W.16.

Expulsion from the Premier League is on the table for Manchester City after being accused of breaching more than 100 financial rules.

The Premier League has concluded a four-year investigation and has now referred a number of the alleged breaches to an independent Commission.

Having successfully overturned a two-year ban from Uefa in July 2020, City are now tasked with another battle to save their reputation.

The champions are alleged to have broken rules relating to the provision of “accurate financial information” across nine Premier League seasons from 2009 to 2018, and that the club had failed to cooperate with the league’s investigation since the start of the 2018/19 campaign, among wide-ranging alleged breaches.