An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty on all serious charges of breaching Premier League financial rules — a verdict contained in a scathing 40-page document that exposes fabricated commercial deals, a covert funding scheme, and witnesses who gave false evidence. The club has confirmed it will appeal the ruling, with a deadline of Friday, October 2.

Guilty on all serious charges

The commission found Manchester City in breach of Premier League financial regulations across the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons. The only charge not proven concerned a single element of the Premier League's non-cooperation case. Every other serious financial charge was upheld.

A 'disguised funding scheme'

At the heart of the verdict is what the commission called a "disguised funding scheme." Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) partially funded City's sponsorship arrangements in a manner deliberately structured to conceal the true source of those funds. The commission concluded this allowed the club to avoid recording what would have been the largest single-season loss in Premier League history.

City overstated their sponsorship income by £830.69 million through agreements the commission ruled were "far in excess" of fair market value. The commission determined that City's financial statements for each season between 2009-10 and 2017-18 "did not show a true and fair view" of the club's actual financial position. Three separate remuneration agreements paid by ADUG were omitted from the club's accounts entirely.

'The Fordham Arrangement'

Among the most significant revelations is what the commission labelled 'The Fordham Arrangement' — a scheme in which City used a third party called Fordham to overstate income by £24.5 million and understate expenses by £49.414 million.

The commission described The Fordham Arrangement as "little more than a front for ADUG" — a device through which ADUG funds could be channelled into the club while concealing their true origin, and which enabled City to remove operating expenses from its financial statements.

The Fordham Arrangement formed part of a broader internal project known as 'Project Longbow', described as "a multi-strand project whose purpose was to explore how the club might boost its revenues and reduce its operating losses." The commission acknowledged that many of Project Longbow's strands were legitimate — but The Fordham Arrangement was not.

Dishonest witnesses

The commission heard factual evidence from 27 witnesses across 42 hearing days in the final quarter of 2024. The core bundle of documents reviewed ran to "many tens of thousands of pages." The commission found that City made concerted efforts to impede the investigation, and concluded that several witnesses called on the club's behalf gave knowingly false evidence — a finding of outright dishonesty.

City 'intended to circumvent' the rules

Beyond the financial breaches themselves, the commission ruled that City had breached both UEFA and Premier League financial regulations and that "by its conduct the club clearly intended to circumvent the PL rules."

The Premier League characterised City's conduct as involving "extremely serious, significant, sustained and intentional or reckless breaches of rules critical to the proper and fair operation" of its competition. Manchester City have formally confirmed their intention to appeal the findings.