Manchester City have been informed of their deadline to appeal the Premier League's findings which found the club guilty on 115 charges related to financial breaches
An aerial view of the Etihad Stadium
Manchester City have been given a deadline to appeal the Premier League's findings(Image: Photo by Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Manchester City have been given a deadline to appeal the Premier League independent commission’s findings after the club was found guilty of 115 charges related to breaches of financial rules over a nine-season period.
The Premier League confirmed on Tuesday that Manchester City have been found guilty of all 115 charges related to serious breaches of the league’s financial rules following a four-year investigation from an independent commission.
Manchester City have already denied all charges, and now have been given the right to appeal the independent commission’s decision. The deadline to exercise the right to appeal has been set for Friday, Oct. 2.
The club, which won three Premier League titles during the nine-year window in which the charges apply to between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons, released a statement stating they are “both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League commission.”
Manchester City added it “will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums."
It continued that it “will now pursue the appeal avenues to open it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and face, and is unsafe.”
Manchester City players celebrate with the Premier League trophy
Manchester City won three Premier League titles during the nine-year window in which they were accused of violating financial rules(Image: AFP PHOTO/PAUL ELLIS)
A Manchester City appeal would be heard by a new three-person commission and would be expected to “extend the process by years rather than months,” according to Lawton & Ziegler of the London TIMES.
According to the Premier League’s official 1545-word statement released on Tuesday, Manchester City were found to have “arranged ‘sham’ contracts with a number of its commercial partners to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs,” wrote Richard Masters, Chief Executive of the Premier League
In addition, the club was found to have “misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators,” breach both the Premier League and UEFA’s spending limits, and commit “multiple breaches of its duties of co-operation and utmost good faith towards the League.”
"The purpose of these schemes was found to have been to artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than £900 million ($1.2 billion) during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules," Masters continued.
"The consequence of this, as the Commission found, was that the club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators. The Commission concluded that ‘by its conduct the club clearly intended to circumvent the PL Rules‘."
Regarding a potential appeal, the Premier League wrote, “The Premier League Board’s intention is that the full process (including any appeals and publication of relevant decisions) is concluded as soon as possible.”