Manchester City’s financial-rule case has a verdict—but no sanction yet

For football supporters, the most important consequence of the Manchester City financial-rule decision is also the part still missing: nobody yet knows what it will do to the league table.

A Premier League commission has found City responsible for serious financial-rule breaches over nine seasons and for three of four alleged failures to cooperate with the league’s investigation. But the sanction—potentially a fine, points deduction or another sporting penalty—will be determined separately. City rejects the findings and says it intends to challenge them.

That leaves this landmark case in an unusual position. Liability has been decided by the commission, according to the league’s account, while the competitive consequence and any appeal remain open.

What the commission found

In its September 29 statement, the Premier League said the independent commission found City guilty of all charges concerning serious breaches of financial rules from the 2009/10 season through 2017/18. It also upheld three of four alleged cooperation breaches.

The league is a party to the case, so its summary must be attributed accordingly. It says the commission found that City used “sham” contracts and other arrangements involving commercial partners to inflate reported revenue and reduce recorded costs. According to the commission’s findings as summarized by the league, the difference exceeded £900 million across the affected period.

The commission also found that the club filed misstated accounts, concealed the true state of its finances from auditors and football regulators, and would have substantially exceeded Premier League and UEFA spending limits if the relevant agreements had been reported accurately. It further concluded that City made concerted efforts to obstruct the league’s four-year investigation.

City emphatically disputes that account. In its own September 29 statement, the club said it was innocent, called the commission’s opinion unsafe and alleged material errors of law, principle and fact. It said it would pursue the available regulatory and legal appeal routes.

That is an announced intention, not confirmation that an appeal has been filed or decided. The league gave City until Friday, October 2, to exercise its appeal right.

Why “115 charges” needs care

The case is widely known as the “115 charges,” but that figure is a conventional label rather than a definitive description of the findings.

Before the decision, the BBC grouped the allegations into 54 concerning accurate financial information, 14 concerning player and manager payments, five involving UEFA rules, seven involving Premier League profitability and sustainability rules, and 35 concerning cooperation. The same report noted that other published counts had reached 130, reflecting different ways of reading amended or repeated rule allegations.

The Premier League’s original 2023 referral arranged the case by duties and seasons rather than presenting a simple numbered list of 115 items. The careful description now is therefore that the commission upheld all charges related to the serious financial-rule breaches identified by the league, plus three of four cooperation allegations—not that every item in a universally settled list of 115 was proved.

What remains unresolved

The document published so far is a redacted Core Decision. The commission ruled—and an Appeal Board confirmed—that it counts as a “final award,” allowing its publication under league rules. That term does not mean the entire process is finished.

Three questions remain:

1. What sanction will be imposed? A separate commission hearing will address that question in private. The available sanctions include fines, points deductions and other sporting measures, but the statement gives no indication of which will be chosen.

2. Will City file an appeal, and what will happen to it? The club says it will pursue appeal avenues. An Appeal Board may uphold, overturn or vary a commission order, but no completed appeal is established by the supplied evidence.

3. What else will be published? The league says the commission’s award contains numerous appendices and that it intends to publish them when permitted. The currently available summary is redacted, and parts of the record remain confidential.

A separate dispute that did not decide this case

City’s challenges to the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction rules concerned how certain deals involving connected parties are assessed for fair-market value. They were separate from this disciplinary case.

A 2024 tribunal upheld most of the APT framework while identifying several defects. The league and City later settled another APT arbitration in September 2025, with City accepting the then-current rules as valid and binding. Neither proceeding determined the financial-rule charges now decided by the commission.

The clearest reading on September 30 is therefore narrow but consequential: the commission has established serious breaches, City rejects that conclusion, and the question most visible on the pitch—the penalty—has not yet been answered.