Manchester City hearing into 115 financial charges begins

What is the hearing all about?

The Premier League, the top football division in England and the richest football league in the world, has charged its reigning champions, Manchester City, with 115 breaches of its financial regulations. The charges were initially bought in February 2023 and cover the years between 2009 and 2018. 

Starting on September 16, 2024, a three-person commission will review mountains of evidence for about 10 weeks at an undisclosed location. A verdict is expected sometime before the end of the current season.

The English champions, owned in practice by the United Arab Emirates' ruling family, deny all charges and insist their case is supported by a "comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence".

Almost half of the charges (54) refer to a supposed failure to provide accurate accounting over the nine-year period in question. Others include failing to provide details of player and manager payments, breaching spending rules for the Premier League and European governing body UEFA and not complying with Premier League investigations between December 2018 and February 2023.

How did it all start?

In 2018, Der Spiegel, a German news magazine, published claims that City had massaged figures to circumvent UEFA rules. Their source was a tranche of leaked emails from the man behind a website called Football Leaks. The relationship between City's ownership, its UAE-based sponsors and their reporting of those relationships came under the spotlight.

The operator of Football Leaks was Rui Pinto. The Portuguese national has always claimed he is a whistleblower but was handed a four year suspended sentence by a court in Lisbon earlier this year after it found him guilty of attempted extortion, illegal access to data and breach of correspondence. 

What has been said?

One of the main advocates of the charges is Javier Tebas, president of Spain's top division, La Liga. "I have spoken with many Premier League clubs, and most of them understand that City should be sanctioned," he was quoted as saying in Mundo Deportivo, a Spanish newspaper.

City have consistently denied the charges, and their manager, Pep Guardiola, formerly in charge of Bayern Munich and Barcelona, addressed the case in a recent press conference. "All the Premier League teams want us to be sanctioned, that is for sure," the Spanish tactician said. "Justice is there in a modern democracy. It's not more complicated than that. I don't know if he [Tebas] is a lawyer or the rest of the Premier League teams are lawyers, so I ask for that."

Has this happened before?

The Premier League has long had a reputation for rampant capitalism, making it rich but, in the eyes of many, losing its connection with local fans in the process. But it has started to enforce financial regulations that control spending in recent years. Last season, Everton and Nottingham Forest were docked Premier League points for breaking profit and sustainability (PSR) rules, which limits losses to €125 million ($139 million) over a three-year period.

City have previously won, for the most part, a similar battle with UEFA. The 2023 UEFA Champions League winners were hit with a huge fine by UEFA in 2014 over a breach of the organization's FFP (Financial Fair Play) rules. Then, in February 2020, City were again fined and banned from the Champions League by UEFA, who accused them of falsely inflating sponsorship revenues between 2012 and 2016. City was also handed a €30 million ($33 million) fine and the two-year ban. But in July of the same year, the ban was overturned, and the fine was reduced. City denied all charges and did not miss a game in Europe's premier club competition.

What could happen to the loser?

The stakes are high. For City, which has become English football's dominant force, punishments could include points deductions, expulsion or the stripping of their titles. While any financial penalties will be absorbed relatively easily by the oil-rich benefactors, returning to the summit without the resources they've enjoyed recently would be a much bigger challenge.

There is also a significant risk for the Premier League. In taking on one of its biggest clubs, having successfully punished two smaller ones, they risk appearing toothless. City winning would also open the door for other clubs, particularly Saudi Arabia-owned Newcastle United, to follow a similar path.

Edited by: Jonathan Harding