Every Possible Outcome of Manchester City’s Premier League Charges

The long-running case involving Manchester City and the Premier League has entered its most important phase.

On 29 September 2026, the Premier League announced that an independent commission had found Manchester City guilty of all charges relating to serious financial breaches across nine seasons. The commission also upheld three of the four groups of allegations concerning the club’s failure to cooperate with the investigation and act in good faith. City have rejected the findings and indicated that they will appeal.

No punishment had been confirmed when the decision was announced. A separate sanctions process must determine what consequences should follow, while the appeal could preserve, reduce or overturn the original findings.

This means several outcomes remain possible, including combinations of different penalties.

What Was Manchester City Found Guilty Of?

The independent commission found that Manchester City used sham arrangements with commercial partners to inflate revenue and reduce reported costs between 2009/10 and 2017/18.

According to the Premier League’s statement, owner-funded arrangements were presented as commercial sponsorship income, while other agreements helped the club record lower operating expenses than it had actually incurred. The commission concluded that these arrangements inflated revenue and reduced costs by more than £900 million.

The commission also found that City filed misstated accounts, concealed the true position from auditors and regulators, and would have breached Premier League and UEFA spending limits by a substantial amount if the relevant agreements had been reported accurately. Multiple failures to cooperate with the Premier League investigation were upheld as well.

Manchester City continue to dispute the findings and have said the decision contains material errors of law, principle and fact. The club’s appeal therefore becomes the first major factor in determining the final outcome.