Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano has addressed club staff directly following the Premier League's publication of an independent commission finding that the club breached the league's financial rules between 2009 and 2018.
Erling Haaland will be among the Manchester City players with questions for the board.
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Soriano's message to staff came in the immediate aftermath of one of the most consequential days in Manchester City's history.
The independent commission's finding - covering sham commercial contracts, misstated accounts and a sustained failure to cooperate with the Premier League's four-year investigation - was published on Monday in a formal statement from the league, accompanied by a declaration from Premier League chief executive Richard Masters that the case represented the most significant disciplinary decision in English football's history.
Masters said the verdict "establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period" and confirmed that the league intended to move swiftly through the remaining elements of the process, with the sanctions phase still to be determined.
Manchester City responded to the publication of the league's official statement with a formal club statement of their own, declaring the club innocent of all accusations, pledging to pursue every available appeal avenue and accusing the commission's opinion of containing "clear material errors, of law, principle and fact."
The club stated it had "diligently respected due process for eight years" on the expectation that the Premier League would act as an "independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence" - language that framed the guilty finding not merely as legally wrong but as the product of a compromised process.
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.cityxtra.co.ukMan City Respond to Independent Commission Guilty Verdict on Premier League Financial Rule Breaches
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.
Soriano on Guilty Verdict: This is Just Not True, We Will be Relentless in Our Work
In a video message to Manchester City staff, Soriano said: "I want to share some information related to the ongoing disciplinary process between Manchester City and the Premier League. A document has been made public with an opinion of the Premier League commission that is negative to our interests.
"I want to explain exactly what this is, the next steps and how we are going to continue to defend the club, and finally be vindicated in this process.
This has gone for so long that it is important to remind ourselves that the whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation - that the owners' personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi. This is just not true.
"Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League commission that shows that it could not happen and that it did not happen. This includes bank statements, money transfers, witnesses and everything necessary to categorically demonstrate that the money did not come from the owner.
"Every other false charge that has been thrown at us - and aggressively marketed and promoted - comes from the simple, central, and completely false accusation."
The sanctions hearing before the independent commission remains the next formal milestone, with the appeal process to follow.
Soriano added: "Surprisingly for us, and for our lawyers, after nearly two years the Premier League Commission has introduced an opinion that supports the Premier League's conspiracy theory. To do so, the opinion had to ignore the extensive evidence provided by the club in order to reach a conclusion that is clearly wrong.
"Our lawyers will now file an appeal that sets out the opinion contains clear material errors of law, principle and fact and it is unsafe. Remember we have been here before. In 2020 we were also wrongly ruled against for many of the same issues. We appealed to an independent body in CAS and we won.
"We will now be relentless in our work. We will focus on the independent appeal process and also all other legal avenues available to us in order to win the case, and we will take all necessary action to protect the club and seek compensation from any party that tries to damage it now, and in the future.
"I know this can be a bit of a distraction but please remain focused on our business and take care of our extended City family as we always do. Please follow the normal protocols in referring to fan, partner and media enquiries.
"Very soon we will look back at this and recognise it is another time in our history when we dealt with adversity and overcame it together."
What is the Wider Context of Soriano's Message?
The 2020 reference Soriano invokes is central to the club's legal confidence. Manchester City were handed a two-year ban from European competition by UEFA in February 2020 over alleged financial fair play breaches, only for that ban to be overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport five months later.
The CAS panel found that part of the conduct was time-barred and that other elements were not proven to the required standard of evidence - a precedent the club has repeatedly cited as evidence of their capacity to challenge adverse findings at the highest regulatory level.
he distinction Soriano draws between the commission's opinion and the underlying factual record - arguing that the panel had to "ignore" the evidence City presented to reach its conclusion - is likely to form a central thread of the formal appeal.
Meanwhile, several Premier League clubs have already mobilised legal counsel to assess potential claims against City for losses incurred across the nine-season period, with the collective figure reported to amount to approximately £800 million.
Within the club, the message is designed to stabilise an organisation that has faced significant internal uncertainty since the verdict emerged.
Reports in the days following Friday's findings indicated that staff at the City Football Academy were anxious about job security in the event that sanctions prove severe, with some employees expressing doubts about the club's capacity to sustain a prolonged legal battle.
Enzo Maresca's side return to Premier League action after the international break sitting top of the 2026/27 table, with a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool on October 11 to come three days before a home UEFA Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain.