Manchester City has been found in breach of the majority of charges brought against them in 2023, and has lodged an appeal against the independent panel's findings
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak alongside Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano
Manchester City has appealed its guilty verdict(Image: Martin Rickett/PA Wire)
Manchester City has filed an appeal against the independent panel's ruling on violations of the Premier League's financial regulations.
The Premier League issued an official statement on Tuesday afternoon, confirming that the club had been found guilty on the majority of charges brought against them in 2023.
The statement read: "An independent Commission has found Manchester City FC guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules over a nine-season period, and the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League's investigation."
City had until Friday to challenge the ruling, with the club now confirming they have exercised that right
A statement from the club 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.
"The club's firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe.
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"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."
It comes as little surprise that the club have lodged an appeal against the independent panel's findings, given their consistent protestations of innocence regarding the alleged violations — said to have occurred between 2009 and 2018 — ever since the charges were first brought against them three years ago.
According to the Premier League, City have been found to have 'artificially inflate' revenues and reduce costs by more than $1.2billion (£900 million) over a nine-year period, to "appear to comply with financial rules."
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The commission determined that the club submitted "misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances."
Should their appeal prove unsuccessful, City face the prospect of severe punishment. While supporters and pundits across the globe have speculated over potential sanctions including fines, transfer bans and points deductions, the club also face the possibility of being stripped of titles won during the period in question, and even relegation through the football pyramid.
Jamie Carragher has equally demanded that City either prove their innocence or accept the consequences, calling on the club to present evidence exonerating them or face whatever sanctions are imposed. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "The club are going to get punished.
"For me, this is all about the owners. I don't know how the owners can continue in English football. We talk about the fit and proper test for owners, what they have done over ten years now in the Premier League and this stain that will be there for the next ten years about 'did they win it really, was that fair?'
Jamie Carragher speaks
Jamie Carragher has called out Manchester City(Image: Sky Sports)
"This all starts with Manchester City and it starts because they do not like the word 'no'. When the rules came in, it's in the emails: 'We can do what we want'. And when you see the statements in the last couple of days, the one from [Ferran] Soriano last night, it actually beggars belief what you are watching and hearing here.
"Until they move away from the club, I don't know how this stain is ever removed from the club. I just don't see how the ownership can continue after what has happened here and the way they are actually reacting to it.
"How can they be surprised, and that they have got irrefutable evidence? Where is it? Put it out there, surely. If you have irrefutable evidence of something and you are getting charged by the police, you hand it to them because you want this over with as quickly as possible. City have almost dragged this on, kicking the can down the road."
No sanctions will be imposed on City until the appeals procedure has concluded, with the Premier League keen to progress through the inquiry at the earliest opportunity. For the time being, it seems football supporters will need to exercise considerable patience before Manchester City's ultimate fate is finally determined.