In February 2023, Manchester City F.C., winners of six of the last seven English Premier League titles, were charged by the Premier League with 115 violations of the league’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. The charges themselves allege that the club broke FFP rules over a period from 2009 to 2018 and then failed to comply with investigations by the Premier League into these alleged breaches. These charges have sparked controversy, since the club has continued to win titles while allegations swirl about their breach of rules. The hearing for the investigation began on Sept. 16 and is expected to last about 10 weeks.
FFP is a blanket term for the policy created by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that determines how much a club is allowed to spend. In the Premier League, the term for this is Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). These rules are in place to limit the financial loss a club can incur over a period of time, and are supposed to keep clubs financially sustainable. All Premier League clubs are required to submit financial reports to the League itself, and if they report losses of more than 105 million pounds ($136 million), clubs can be subject to an investigation by an independent commission. If clubs are found guilty of breaching these rules, it can lead to punishments such as fines and point deductions.
The charges against Manchester City result from a variety of violations. Those violations include 54 counts of failure to provide accurate financial reports to the Premier League, 14 charges for failing to provide accurate information regarding how much they paid players and managers and 12 for violating UEFA’s FFP and the Premier League’s PSR rules. The remaining 35 charges are for unwillingness to comply with investigations conducted by the Premier League.
The current case against Manchester City began in 2018, when a German media outlet, Der Spiegel, published an investigation into their violations with information based on club documents obtained by a Portuguese computer hacker. That Portuguese hacker, a man named Rui Pinto, was head of a website called Football Leaks, which functioned as a whistleblower about the financial deals and information of soccer clubs. The evidence from the club documents suggests that Manchester City inflated the amount of revenue that they generated through club sponsorships, specifically those sponsorships with companies connected to City’s owners in Abu Dhabi. The UEFA conducted an investigation into Manchester City in 2020, in which they found the club guilty of inflating the aforementioned sponsorship revenues, issuing a fine and a two-year ban from UEFA competitions such as the Champions League as punishment. However, the club appealed the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who overturned it and reduced the fine.
This time, the investigation is specifically orchestrated by the Premier League. Carried out by an independent commission, it started in September with a formal hearing. After that, the commission will take time to examine the evidence and reach a decision, which could take until the spring of 2025. Only then would a potential punishment be handed down.
Charges related to breaches of financial rules are not uncommon in recent Premier League history. In the 2023-24 season, both Everton and Nottingham Forest were deducted points for PSR violations. Everton lost six points as a result of two separate breaches, and Nottingham Forest lost four points for their violation.
A variety of punishments can be imposed on a club found guilty of financial violations. Points deductions, suspension from league matches, fines and even expulsion from the league are potentially on the table. Since Everton and Nottingham Forest were found guilty on only a couple of charges, their punishments were less severe. But with Manchester City facing 115 charges, the looming question is what a punishment for City might look like. If they were to receive a points deduction comparable to those of Everton and Nottingham Forest, that deduction could be over 100 points, according to Sky Sports, and those deductions could come across multiple seasons. A points deduction that large would almost certainly cause the storied club to be relegated from the Premier League.
The hearing and subsequent decision marks an important moment not just for Manchester City, but for the Premier League. If the club is found guilty, the validity of their run of titles in the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League could come under scrutiny. But if the club is cleared of wrongdoing, it could call into question if the Premier League is properly handling the application of financial regulations and damage the league’s reputation for ensuring every team is held to the same standards.
