The Premier League has confirmed that Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of Premier League financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
An independent Commission found that during that time period, the club arranged “sham contracts” with a number of its commercial partners, as well as “relying on sham agreements to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs”.
The statement also said that City were guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate.
The Premier League published a redacted version of the commission’s report, which said the charges “concerned well over 100 alleged individual breaches of Premier League Rules across four broad charge categories”.
They also found the club guilty of all charges except one relating to non-cooperation with the Premier League investigation.
The sham commercial deals were described as being part of a “disguised funding scheme” to the scale of £830.69m.
“The relevant sponsorship agreements were found to be shams, or at minimum did not reflect their economic substance,” the commission said.
It also describes “deliberate or reckless conduct intended to circumvent the Premier League rules” and that the “sham” scheme devised by City allowed the club “to avoid recording what would otherwise have been the largest single-season loss in Premier League history in 2009-10”.
Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, said: “The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.
“It also vindicates the Premier League’s decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.
“It is a key responsibility of the Premier League to ensure that the Rules, approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition. It is paramount that the League remains competitive and fair for all clubs and for the fans. We take that role extremely seriously.”
Meanwhile, a City statement said the club was “both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission”.
“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,” the statement said.
“The Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums.
“The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted. Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.”
