By Lori Ewing
MANCHESTER, England, Oct 2 (Reuters) – Manchester City have filed an appeal against an independent commission ruling that found the club guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, seeking to overturn the verdict and avoid potentially severe sanctions.
The league said on Tuesday that City had used “sham” commercial contracts as part of schemes to inflate revenue and understate costs by more than £900 million ($1.19 billion) over nearly a decade.
City were found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the league’s financial rules over nine seasons from 2009-10 to 2017-18, as well as three out of four charges concerning failures to cooperate with the investigation.
The club, who had until the end of the day on Friday to appeal, has denied wrongdoing throughout the process.
With potential sanctions including heavy fines, points deductions and other sporting penalties, and with relegation or the removal of titles also discussed as possible outcomes, the case could have consequences across the league.
“Manchester City Football Club can confirm that at 7pm on Thursday 1st October 2026 the Club lodged its comprehensive Appeal against the opinion of the Premier League Commission, in relation to the Premier League disciplinary matter,” the club said in a statement.
“The Club’s firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe.
“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 appeal will be heard by an independent three-member board appointed by the chair of the league’s judicial panel.
“The club lodged the appeal to the Chair of the Judicial Panel,” the league said in a statement. “The independent Appeal Board hearing will remain private and confidential until publication of the outcome is permitted.”
The Premier League’s new fast-track rules state that an appeal hearing should be held within 12 weeks of an appeal being lodged, with a decision due within 30 days of the hearing concluding.
Some legal commentators expect City to argue that those rules did not exist when the club were originally charged in February 2023.
APPEAL HELD IN PRIVATE
The appeal will take place in private, as did the original hearings. The board will review the commission’s decision, but will not conduct a full rehearing of the case.
The board can dismiss the appeal, allow it, refer the case back to the commission for further consideration or alter any sanction or compensation order imposed.
A decision by the appeal board is final and cannot be challenged further except in limited circumstances that permit a subsequent arbitration process.
City can also separately appeal against any sanctions.
It remains unclear whether sanctions will be announced before the appeal is heard, and whether they would take effect immediately.
A league representative told Reuters they could not discuss the process for confidentiality reasons.
While the fate of the case remains unresolved, the season will continue, with leaders City looking for their sixth straight league win when they visit Liverpool on October 11.
WIDER REPERCUSSIONS
In its first public statement since the commission’s findings were announced, the Football Association said on Friday it was closely monitoring the case.
“The Independent Commission’s decision has significant implications for the integrity of the game,” the FA said in a statement.
“We are carefully considering the decision and its implications and will take action where appropriate.”
The repercussions facing City could extend beyond football.
On Thursday, the chair of parliament’s Treasury Committee Meg Hillier asked Britain’s tax authority HMRC what action it was taking in response to the commission’s findings.
Hillier said she had written to HMRC Permanent Secretary JP Marks following the publication on Tuesday of the independent commission ruling that the club had committed “well over 100 individual breaches of the Premier League Rules across the course of many seasons”.
Some sports lawyers have predicted years of further litigation as rival clubs, players and agents assess whether they may have grounds to pursue compensation claims connected to the case.
($1 = 0.7572 pounds)
(Reporting by Lori Ewing in Manchester and Suramya Kaushik in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)
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