Manchester City have issued a formal statement in response to the Premier League publishing an independent commission's finding that the club breached league's financial rules between 2009 and 2018.
Marc Guehi and others in the Manchester City dressing room will have questions for the board.
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The verdict, which the Premier League made public following hearings that took place over a six-week window between September and December 2024, represents the most consequential disciplinary decision in English football's history.
The independent commission found that Manchester City arranged "sham" commercial contracts with a number of their sponsors between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons, under which those partners were only required to pay a fraction of the relevant sponsorship fees while the remainder was funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd - the company that owned the club.
Parallel arrangements were found to have artificially reduced the club's recorded operating expenses, with a further circular arrangement involving an entity that purchased players' image rights also funded in the same manner.
The commission concluded that the cumulative effect of those schemes was to artificially inflate Manchester City's revenues and reduce their costs by more than £900 million across the affected period.
It found that the club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of their finances from auditors and football regulators, and that had all relevant agreements been reported accurately, City would have been in significant breach of both the Premier League's and UEFA's spending limits.
The Premier League have published an official statement confirming that Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the league's financial rules across a nine-season period between 2009-18.cityxtra.co.ukPremier League Publishes Official Statement on Man City Guilty Verdict
The Premier League have published an official statement confirming that Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the league's financial rules across a nine-season period between 2009-18.
The Club is Innocent: Man City Respond to Premier League Statement on Independent Commission Verdict
In response to the Premier League's official statement on the commission's findings, a Manchester City statement read: "Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today.
"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 Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums. The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted.
"Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.
"The Club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair -minded regulator, free from partisan influence. The Club is obviously restricted in what it can say further until all future proceedings are complete."
What Does the Commission's Finding Mean for Man City?
The guilty verdict covers conduct across nine seasons between 2009/10 and 2017/18 - a period in which Manchester City won five Premier League titles, two FA Cups and reached the Champions League final.
The commission's finding that City's schemes artificially inflated revenues and reduced costs by more than £900 million represents the most damaging factual conclusion in English football's disciplinary history.
Sanctions have not yet been determined, with the punishment phase representing a separate and still-pending stage of proceedings - one that City's appeal, if successful, could delay or prevent from taking effect entirely.
Sources familiar with the case have indicated that full resolution, including any appeal and potential civil litigation from rival clubs, may not arrive until 2028 or 2029.
The sanctions hearing before the independent commission is the immediate next formal stage, with the club's appeal to follow.
Enzo Maresca's side return to Premier League action after the international break with a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool on October 11, three days before they welcome Paris Saint-Germain to the Etihad Stadium in the UEFA Champions League.