Manchester City: They wasted too much money

Manchester City cheated their league with illegal financial tricks. Does the club now have to be forced to relegate?

From ZEIT No. 44/2026

Article summary

Manchester City's rise gets a new interpretation. After buying it in 2008, Sheikh Mansour wanted to quickly take the club to the top, even though financial rules limit high losses. According to an independent commission, City disguised around £830 million from Mansour's environment as sponsorship money between 2009 and 2018 and broke the rules in more than a hundred points. With this advantage, the club won numerous titles, hindered investigations, according to the report, and has now filed an appeal. Now England is arguing about sanctions, from deprivations to forced relegation, while politicians, fans and experts are wrestling with consequences and fairness.

This summary was created using artificial intelligence. Occasionally errors may occur.

When Sheikh Mansour bin Sajed al Nahjan bought the Manchester City football club, he faced a problem. The Citizens were middle class at best in 2008. Mansour, a member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi and now deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, wanted to lead his new club to the top of English and European football as quickly as possible. In order to close the gap to local rivals Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool, Mansour needed a lot of money. Much more than the Premier League's financial rules allow.

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These questions were created using artificial intelligence based on the article text. Occasionally errors may occur.

The article answers these questions:

How are Manchester City supposed to have circumvented the Premier League's financial rules for years?

What penalties does the club face based on the commission's findings?