Former Manchester City president David Bernstein believes the club should be expelled from the English Premier League, after being found guilty of violating financial rules.
It was found that City concluded “sham contracts” with a number of commercial partners with the aim of artificially inflating the club’s revenues and reducing costs over a period of 9 seasons between 2009 and 2018.
This plan concealed the true state of the club's finances, which enabled it to avoid violating the spending limits imposed by the English Premier League and the European Football Association (UEFA).
An independent committee also condemned the club on the majority of charges related to its failure to cooperate with the League’s investigations.
The Citizens may be subject to relegation, points being deducted from its balance, or a huge financial fine.
No penalty has been imposed yet, while the Abu Dhabi-owned club confirmed that it will appeal the decision.
But Bernstein, who served as Manchester City president between 1998 and 2003, believes that the club deserves the maximum possible penalties.
Bernstein told the BBC that the club's violations "condemn him to an incredible extent." My first thoughts were: Should the board continue? Should the people involved be arrested immediately?
He added: “It is really very dangerous.” I think it's pretty terrible. “There is a school of thought among some lawyers that is based on denial, denial, denial, but this is a football club that is part of a league, and the credibility of the entire league is at stake here.”
He continued: “Sanctions cannot be only financial, so they must go beyond that. If the appeal fails, Manchester City cannot remain in the league, and will have to pay the price. I say this as a fan and supporter of the club.”
British Culture, Media and Sport Minister Lisa Nandy told the BBC that the report was “very serious.” “The Premier League report is very stark.”
She added: “Manchester City has the right to appeal. “This raises a lot of concern for City fans and all Premier League fans.”
According to the independent commission, City over-reported its revenues by more than 830 million pounds ($1.09 billion) through a system dubbed “Project Longbow.”
In a strongly worded 40-page document, the English Premier League considered that City’s conduct included “highly serious, significant, persistent, intentional or reckless breaches of fundamental rules ensuring the proper and fair operation of the English Premier League.”
The document detailed the extent of what the committee repeatedly described as “sham commercial deals” that the club concluded with a number of its sponsors.
These deals were part of a disguised financing mechanism, as these companies were only required to pay a portion of the agreed-upon sponsorship fees.
According to the committee, one of the companies called “Fordham” was “actually just a front” for the Abu Dhabi United Investment and Development Group, which owns the club, to pump more money into it.
The committee said: “In 2012, the club launched what it called the Longbow Project,” adding: “We accept the club’s explanation that the Longbow Project was a multi-track project whose goal was to explore how to enhance the club’s revenues and reduce its operational losses.”
She continued: “Many of the Longbow Project’s paths were genuine and legitimate attempts to achieve these goals. But one of these paths was not. “That was the Fordham Arrangement.”
But City's CEO, Spanish Ferran Soriano, said that his club would ultimately prove its innocence, describing the decision to convict him of violating financial rules as "a conspiracy theory from the English Premier League."
In a video message to club employees, Soriano launched an attack on the League’s decision, saying: “A document has been published containing an opinion issued by the English Premier League Committee that conflicts with our interests.”
He added: “I want to explain precisely what this matter is, the next steps, how we will continue to defend the club, and how we will prove our innocence at the end of this process.”
In addition to the possibility of being expelled from the Premier League and fines, City faces the possibility of being stripped of the eight league titles it has won since Abu Dhabi took over the club in 2008.
Soriano stated that the League had been presented with “conclusive and indisputable” evidence justifying the dropping of the charges, adding in his fierce defense of the club: “This case has continued for such a long time that it is important to remind ourselves that the entire English Premier League case against us is based on one false accusation, which is that the owner’s personal funds were somehow secretly pumped into the club through some sponsors from (Abu Dhabi).”
He added: “This is simply not true.” “The English Premier League Committee was presented with conclusive evidence showing that this was not possible and did not happen in the first place.”
He added: “This includes bank statements, money transfers, witness testimonies, and everything necessary to prove conclusively that the money did not come from the owner.”
Soriano confirmed that the club's legal team will move to prove that the League Committee's decision is "invalid."
In 2020, City succeeded in overturning the two-year suspension from European participation imposed by the Confederation of the Continental Football Association due to violating the rules of financial fair play, after resorting to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Soriano said: “Remember, we have been through this before,” stressing: “We will take all necessary measures to protect the club and demand compensation from any party that tries to harm it now or in the future.”
The Guinea-Bissau national team pulled off a resounding surprise by defeating its guest, Nigeria, 3-0, in the qualifiers for the 2027 African Cup of Nations.
The hosts took the lead in the first half, scored by Francolino Diego after 15 minutes.
In the second half, Mama Balde added the second goal in the 66th minute, and the Guinea-Bissau players missed other dangerous attempts in light of the brilliance of Nigerian goalkeeper Stanley Nwabili.
Alvaro Gallo concluded the hat-trick for the hosts with a goal he scored with a shot from inside the penalty area in the third minute of stoppage time.
Earlier, Tuesday, the teams of Madagascar and Tanzania tied 1-1 in the same group competitions.
With these results, the Guinea-Bissau national team is at the top of Group 12 with 6 points, achieving the full mark after a 2-0 victory over Tanzania in the first round.
As for the Nigerian national team, its score froze at 3 points after its 2-1 victory over Madagascar in the first round.
In the capital, Accra, the Ghana national team continued its declining results in the 2027 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, with a new loss, on Tuesday, at home and among its fans, against Gambia, with a score of 2-4, in the second round of the third group.
After Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz's team lost in the first round match against Côte d'Ivoire 0-2, the team suffered a new defeat that weakens its position in qualifying for the tournament finals.
Ghana's Ernest Nwoama scored the lead goal for the hosts in the 27th minute from a penalty kick, then Felix Gyan added a second goal in the 33rd minute.
Mohammed Badamusi reduced the gap for Gambia with the first goal in the 37th minute from a penalty kick.
Before the end of the first half, Omar Kuliye succeeded in scoring the equalizer for Gambia in the 42nd minute.
The visiting team was able to add a third goal through Ibrahima Kohli in the 68th minute, then the same player added a fourth goal in stoppage time of the second half.
This valuable victory raised Gambia's score to 6 points at the top of the group, awaiting the match between Côte d'Ivoire (3 points) and Somalia (no points) later, Tuesday.
As for the Ghana national team, it is at the bottom of the standings with no points after two consecutive losses.
In the capital, Praia, the Cape Verde national team disappointed its fans on Tuesday, losing 1-2 to its guest, Rwanda, in the second round.
The Cape Verde national team did not take advantage of its lead through Gelson Tavarez's goal in the 40th minute, but the visitors quickly equalized with Claude Nyomugabo's goal in the second minute of stoppage time.
In the second half, Rwanda snatched victory with a second goal scored by Eli Iradukunda in the 52nd minute.
With this result, the Cape Verde team is at the bottom of Group 11 without a score after losing 1-3 to Mali in the first round, continuing its disappointing performances after remarkable brilliance in the 2026 World Cup, where it was eliminated against Argentina in the round of 32 after losing 2-3 with difficulty after an extension to extra time.
As for the Rwanda national team, it raised its score to 6 points at the top with a full score after a 3-1 victory over Liberia in the first round.
Later Tuesday, the Mali national team will visit Liberia.
The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will be jointly organized by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda from 19 June to 17 July 2027.
