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A general view inside Manchester City's home ground, Etihad Stadium, ahead of their Premier League clash against Sunderland this month.
By Lori Ewing, Chiranjit Ojha and Julien Pretot
Manchester City may face sanctions ranging from fines and a points deduction to relegation after being found guilty of 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules but the road to any enforcement remains long with the club expected to appeal.
A football source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed Friday’s media reports that the independent panel found City guilty on all but one of the charges and told Reuters on Monday that the process was expected to “drag on”.
City chair Khaldoon Al Mubarak responded to reports of a guilty verdict with an open letter to fans, saying the club, who have always denied wrongdoing after the charges were announced in February 2023, remain confident of proving their case.
“The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began,” he wrote on Saturday.
Manchester City could be facing the biggest punishment in English football history. The club have issued a statement after reports emerged that they've been found guilty on 114 of their 115 charges relating to breaches of financial regulations. @RobHarris looks at the latest pic.twitter.com/XiO82uSTLz
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 25, 2026
A three-person board would hear the case if City appeal after the guilty ruling by the independent judicial panel.
They cannot go to sport’s highest court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which overturned City’s two-year Champions League ban, imposed by European football governing body Uefa for overstating sponsorship revenue between 2012 and 2016.
But the appeal process may be a long way off given the number of charges, covering nine seasons from 2009 to 2018, which required a four-year investigation before charges were announced.
It is possible the current Premier League season, in which City lead the table after five straight wins, may end without an official verdict and punishments being announced, leaving the world’s richest football league in limbo.
Even if the verdict and punishments are announced, the appeal process may delay the imposition of any sanctions while the season continues or even concludes.
But if the case is wrapped up before the end of the campaign, a large points deduction may plunge City from being a title contender into a relegation battler.
If the charges stand, the points deduction may even be big enough to make it practically impossible to avoid the drop.
But there is also the possibility City may face an even harsher punishment, as Juventus did after a corruption case surrounding the manipulation of referee assignments that rocked Italian soccer two decades ago.
While many clubs faced heavy sanctions including points deductions, Juve paid the biggest price after the “Calciopoli” scandal, as they were stripped of two Serie A titles and relegated to Serie B.
The 2004-05 Serie A season no longer has a champion, while the 2005-06 title was awarded to Inter Milan.
A similar retroactive change in the Premier League’s championship history could affect all clubs and the credibility of the competition itself.
There may also be legal challenges from other clubs, claiming lost prize money and missed financial opportunities, if City are judged to have gained a sporting advantage from the activities they have been charged with.
City CEO Ferran Soriano, meanwhile, said the club would do everything to clear its name when addressing the European Football Clubs board on Monday, adding the procedure would take years before reaching an end, a source familiar with the discussions told Reuters.
It’s not a problem that concerns me, for one thing. It’s nothing new, because I think it’s been coming up every now and then for four or five years.
— Roberto Mancini
Soriano, who sits on EFC’s board, declined to comment to reporters on the guilty verdict, according to media reports confirmed to Reuters by a source familiar with the situation.
The case will provide one backdrop to the General Assembly, which brings together some 500 of the 850 members of the EFC in Copenhagen for Tuesday’s meeting and comes at a time when governance questions are also dominating debate at the top of the world game.
EFC chair Nasser Al-Khelaifi is due to address delegates, with Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin also attending. Fifa president Gianni Infantino was invited but is very unlikely to be present with the FIFA delegation expected to be represented by Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom.
At global level, Infantino has proposed an independent external review of FIFA’s governance and decision-making after the collapse of a plan to bring private investment into its commercial rights business, a proposal that triggered resistance from several confederations and national associations.
The debate has raised broader questions about how major decisions are taken, how much power rests with FIFA’s leadership and what role clubs, leagues, confederations and national associations should have in shaping the game.
The City case adds a domestic dimension to the same debate, focusing attention on financial regulation, enforcement and the relationship between powerful clubs and governing bodies.
Roberto Mancini, who led City to their first top-flight title in over four decades in 2012, has brushed aside concerns over a “double contract” the Italian is alleged to have had in his four-year spell as manager.
"It is not my concern."
Former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini discusses the club's charges and reports about his alleged double contract. pic.twitter.com/stj3AWaWO0
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) September 28, 2026
German magazine Der Spiegel reported in 2018 that Mancini had earned a larger sum than his base salary at City for simultaneously serving as a consultant at the Abu Dhabi-based club Al Jazira, which is owned by a company chaired by City’s majority owner Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The 61-year-old Mancini, who is now Italy manager, was asked about his alleged former dual role after last week’s media reports said that City had been found guilty of 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules in a long-running case.
“It’s not a problem that concerns me, for one thing,” Mancini told a press conference ahead of Monday’s Nations League clash with Turkey in Bursa.
“It’s nothing new, because I think it’s been coming up every now and then for four or five years. Manchester City isn’t guilty, and the dual contract issue absolutely doesn’t concern me. It’s their problem, if anything.”
Reuters has reached out to City for comment.