Staff at Manchester City's training ground have been left shaken by Friday's news of an upcoming guilty verdict on 114 of the club's alleged 115 Premier League financial rule breaches, according to a new report.
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The footballing world was sent into pandemonium on Friday afternoon as news of a verdict finding Manchester City guilty on 114 of their 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial rules across a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018 landed, triggering one of the most significant days in the club's history.
The independent commission's finding - arrived at nearly two years after hearings concluded in late 2024 - left the question of what sanctions City will face as the next major flashpoint in proceedings that are expected to run for at least another two to three years before full resolution.
While senior figures at the club have been reported as calm and confident about the appeals process ahead, the mood among the wider workforce at the City Football Academy told a different story on Friday.
The contrast between the private confidence expressed at executive level and the anxiety felt by staff deeper within the organisation underlines the human dimension of a verdict that, for many people connected to the club, represents something far more pressing and immediate than a legal and financial dispute at the top of the game.
Former City midfielder and Spain captain Rodri, speaking at a press conference ahead of Spain's Nations League fixture against England, backed the club's innocence and drew on the precedent of City's successful 2020 Court of Arbitration for Sport appeal against UEFA's two-year European ban.
Scotland captain and former Liverpool star Andy Robertson, meanwhile, argued that City's players should not carry responsibility for the institutional findings, saying they had demonstrated their quality on the pitch and should not be held to account for conduct beyond their control.
Spain captain and former Manchester City midfielder Rodri has backed his former club's innocence following reports that the independent commission found City guilty on 114 of their alleged 115 Premier League financial rule breaches.cityxtra.co.uk"We Will Believe The Club" - Rodri Backs Man City's Innocence Despite Guilty Verdict Reports
Spain captain and former Manchester City midfielder Rodri has backed his former club's innocence following reports that the independent commission found City guilty on 114 of their alleged 115 Premier League financial rule breaches.
Report: Staff Fear Job Losses as Anger Grows Over Silence From Former Executives
According to a report from The Times, the atmosphere at the City Football Academy on Friday afternoon was described as "very solemn".
Members of staff were turning to their superiors for clarity on what form the punishment handed down to the club might take and, crucially, what the consequences would be for their own employment.
The fear of job losses has taken hold among a portion of the workforce, with the uncertainty created by sanctions that have yet to be determined adding to a sense of unease that the verdict has brought sharply into focus.
Alongside that anxiety, there is also reported anger among staff directed at the executives who held senior positions at the club during the period covered by the 115 charges.
The frustration centres on the absence of any public statement from those individuals, with staff feeling that those most directly responsible for the conduct under scrutiny have not stepped forward to address the situation publicly or take accountability in any visible form.
What is Man City's Position on the Reported Guilty Verdict?
The club's official position has been to maintain confidentiality throughout proceedings, but that stance has done little to ease the frustration felt by those lower down the organisation who are now living with the uncertainty the verdict has created.
The question of what form sanctions will take remains entirely open. Potential consequences that have been discussed in the broader media landscape range from points deductions to financial penalties or, in the most serious scenarios, the stripping of titles won during the relevant period - though all such outcomes would be subject to the appeals process that City are widely expected to pursue.
Manchester United have also been reported to have conducted internal assessments of the financial losses they incurred during the window in question, including revenue lost from missed title wins and Champions League qualification - a sign of how the commercial implications of the verdict extend well beyond City's own walls.
City's statement in response to the verdict reiterated that proceedings remain ongoing and subject to strict confidentiality, with an official judgement yet to be made public.
The club has consistently denied all 115 allegations across the three-and-a-half years since they were first referred to an independent commission in February 2023, and their confidence in the appeals process draws in large part on their track record of overturning adverse findings at the highest level.
For the staff at the City Football Academy, however, the space between that executive confidence and the uncertainty of an unresolved sanctions process is where the anxiety of Friday afternoon has taken root.
The sanctions hearing before the independent commission represents the next major legal development, with the timing of that process yet to be confirmed.
City return to Premier League action after the international break with a trip to Anfield, sitting top of the table with five wins from five in the 2026/27 season under Enzo Maresca.