Manchester City faces historic verdict on 114 of 115 charges

Applied to Manchester City, this message could be interpreted as follows: Until all the facts are on the table, no judgment should be made.

Although this situation has not yet been reached, more has been known since Friday afternoon than before. The sports magazine The Athletic reported that a three-person, independent panel from the Premier League had ruled against Manchester City Football Club “on almost all counts” – specifically in 114 of 115 cases. Such a guilty verdict would be just as extraordinary as the entire trial, which is considered the sport's trial of the century due to its scope and scope.

The possible sanctions against City range from fines to point deductions, which could lead to relegation, to exclusion from the Premier League. A combination of these measures is also possible. Manchester City's former financial advisor Stefan Borson told Talksport that the club was in "huge trouble": "All hell is breaking loose."

The exact sentence will be determined once the verdict is published and accepted. However, both the Premier League and Manchester City can initially appeal the decision within 14 days of delivery of the verdict. In this case, the chairman of the Premier League's justice committee would have to set up a new, unbiased commission. The time frame for such a review would be set by the league regulations much more stringently than the procedure in the first instance. It was only after four years of investigation that the league charged the club in February 2023. Hearings followed between September and December 2024. Since then, the panel has dealt with the extensive evidence from both sides.

“I believe in innocence,” asserts former City player Rodri

Throughout the entire process, those involved largely withheld information about its status. At the start of the season, only Premier League CEO Richard Masters admitted that the process would take significantly more time than expected. The new findings from Friday did not change the silence of those involved. The Premier League has not yet made any comment. A spokesman for Manchester City referred to “key steps” in the process that were reportedly still pending. At the same time, he emphasized that the club's position had not changed: in the statement from February 2023, City was surprised by the investigation, but at the same time welcomed it in order to end the matter "once and for all".

A day after Friday's reports, City Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak spoke out. There are “so many things” that could explain why the club is confident in its position. However, confidentiality obligations did not allow this. Even these lines had been “legally examined several times,” Al Mubarak continued. In doing so, he probably wanted to counteract those who allegedly wanted to “stop the momentum of our club”. “We will not give them this opportunity,” he stressed.

The allegations against City relate, on the one hand, to allegedly serious financial tricks in the period from 2009 to 2018. The club is said to have circumvented spending restrictions through unofficial salary payments and artificially inflated sponsorship contracts. On the other hand, it is about an alleged lack of cooperation with the investigators between 2018 and 2023. The case therefore extends over a significant period of the association's previous Abu Dhabi era. In September 2008, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the emirate's ruling family, acquired the then middle-class club for a quarter of a billion euros and led it to the top of the world with huge investments. Under his leadership, the club has won eight championships, four FA Cup titles and the Champions League for the first time in the historic triple in 2023.

At the center of the evidence are allegedly hacked files from the disclosure platform Football Leaks, which the whistleblower Rui Pinto once left to Spiegel for analysis. After the alleged guilty verdict against City, Pinto himself wrote of “meticulously orchestrated fraud” on The Spanish world and European champion Rodri, who moved to FC Barcelona in the summer after seven years at Manchester City, supported his former club. “I believe in innocence,” Rodri assured. He also defended his team's sporting successes under Guardiola. These were “not paid for with money,” but with commitment, cooperation and team spirit, he said.

The clubs that have come second behind City in recent years smell subsequent championship honors

But the debate about how to deal with the club's successes has already begun. The question that arises is to what extent the club's titles might have to be revoked and - should this happen - whether the second-placed club would subsequently be declared champions. “Another Premier League medal for the trophy cabinet,” joked Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand. The former defender was part of the United squad that finished second behind their city rivals in 2012. Jürgen Klopp, who missed out on the championship with Liverpool in 2019 and 2022 just behind City, once remarked with a wink: "If you organize a bus parade, I'll be there! No matter how long it takes."

José Mourinho, who finished second behind City with Manchester United in 2018, went one step further. He recently mused publicly not only about a possible championship medal, but also about a contractually guaranteed championship bonus that he could be entitled to. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, mayor of Manchester for nine years before his appointment, urged restraint. One should wait for the Commission's report and “not jump to conclusions”.

According to reports, the club's rivals have already sought legal advice behind the scenes to examine possible recourse claims. Most of them don't speak particularly well to their competitors anyway; after all, the years-long investigations consume considerable financial resources. The costs of the Premier League are de facto borne by its 20 clubs. Despite recent developments, the process is not expected to end any time soon. City coach Maresca wrote in his Instagram post about the international break: “Time to breathe, time to analyze, time to learn.” The same should currently apply to his club.