Manchester City corner flag at the Etihad
Manchester City have officially appealed against the seismic guilty verdict delivered by an independent commission on their 115 charges.
The Premier League announced on Tuesday that City have been found guilty by an independent commission of all charges against them.
A general view of the Etihad Stadium3
City could face relegation from the Premier League after being found guilty of each of their financial breach charges
It comes over three-and-a-half years after City were first charged with 115 alleged breaches in February 2023.
In an explosive verdict, the Premier League stated that the club had disguised funding of more than £900million via a series of commercial deals between 2009 and 2018.
During this period, City won eight trophies, including three Premier League titles.
The ruling by an independent panel found them guilty of inflating their revenue by around £900million through 'sham' contracts with sponsors, which were funded by the club's owners.
The club and sponsors have both slammed the Premier League's guilty verdict, with City chief executive Ferran Soriano insisting it is based on a 'conspiracy theory', while principal sponsor, Etihad Airways, have denied involvement in the inflated sponsorship deals.
Nevertheless, City face unprecedented sanctions unless they can overturn the verdict.
Man City announce appeal
Now, City have officially confirmed their appeal is underway.
A defiant club statement read: "Manchester City Football Club can confirm that at 7pm on Thursday 1st October 2026 the Club lodged its comprehensive Appeal against the opinion of the Premier League Commission, in relation to the Premier League disciplinary matter.
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"The Club’s firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe.
"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.
"We will continue to respect due process and are necessarily restricted in what we can say further until all proceedings are complete."
New Premier League rules state that an appeal hearing must be held within 12 weeks of an appeal being lodged.
With the hearing only allowed to last five days, a decision will then be due within 30 days of it's conclusion.
How will Man City argue their verdict?
With City's appeal now underway, the club plan to present documentation they insist disproves the independent commission's main finding - that equity from their owner was disguised as commercial sponsorship income.
The panel found that, of the £949m City recorded as sponsorship revenue from Abu Dhabi-based companies over nine seasons, only £119m was actually paid by the sponsors.
But they will insist the sponsorship deals were funded by the Abu Dhabi government, rather than the club’s owners - Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG).
Man City owner Sheikh Mansour3
Man City owner Sheikh Mansour is fighting the case after his club were found guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules
Man City are majority owned by Sheikh Mansour, who is Vice-President and Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, as well as owner of ADUG.
State-owned companies are not banned from sponsoring Premier League clubs.
talkSPORT's Ben Jacobs has provided clarityon the process, explaining how City's fortunes could be drastically altered if they manage to prove the sponsorship deals were government funded.
Jacobs explained: “If City can successfully argue that it was the Abu Dhabi government, and not Abu Dhabi United Group that made these top-up payments to fulfill sponsorship obligations, then suddenly the verdict has a very different complexion.
"This is what City are relying on."
However, City face a major stumbling block to this argument, having already seen it rejected by the commission in their 2024 hearing.
Pep Guardiola lifts the Premier League trophy aloft3
The legitimacy of Manchester City's dominant era between 2009 and 2018 is on the line with the club's appeal underway
Despite this, chief executive Soriano insisted on Tuesday the club have 'irrefutable evidence' to prove funds came from the government, which runs several club sponsors.
Outlining the obstacles to this, Jacobs said: "When assessed by the Premier League panel, they conclude that the ‘It was the Abu Dhabi government and not the owners' argument was [in their words] 'concocted’ well after the event.
"So the challenge for City is that an appeal is not a retrial and a lot of the so-called 'irrefutable evidence' that Soriano references has already been presented and still the panel have found City guilty."
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