City have until this Friday to appeal the damning judgement handed down by an independent commission
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City's chief executive maintained his belief in the club's innocence
City's chief executive maintained his belief in the club's innocence (Reuters)
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Manchester City’s chief executive has lambasted the verdict ruling the club was guilty of all charges relating to breaking the Premier League’s financial rules as a “conspiracy theory”.
Ferran Soriano maintained the club’s innocence and argued the entire judgement was based on “a single false accusation” which “irrefutable evidence... shows could not happen.”
However, the independent commission’s judgement, handed down on Tuesday, ruled that City had “overstated [its income] by over £830m” during the nine-year period covered by the investigation and arranged “sham commercial deals” with a number of sponsors, and fiercely criticised witnesses who had “given evidence at the hearing that they knew to be untrue and so had been dishonest.”
Soriano delivered the message in a video sent to City staff.
Soriano said: “The whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation – that the owner’s 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 it could not happen and that it did not happen. This includes bank statements, money transfers, witnesses and everything necessary to categorically demonstrate the money did not come from the owner.
“Every other false charge that has been thrown at us comes from that simple, central and completely false accusation. Surprisingly for us and our lawyers after nearly two years the commission has issued 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 that it is unsafe.”
City have until Friday 2 October to appeal the verdict. Sanctions have yet to be applied.