Man City Found Guilty on 114 of 115 Charges — Appeal Lodged, Sanctions Still Unwritten

Man City Found Guilty on 114 of 115 Charges — Appeal Lodged, Sanctions Still Unwritten

The verdict landed Sept. 28, 2026, and this week the case entered its new phase: appeal, sanction speculation, and a league playing its first matches "armed with the knowledge its serial champions have been" found guilty¹ — what the Guardian's Barney Ronay called "the new era of post-verdict unreality."

What was ruled. An independent commission found Manchester City guilty of 114 of 115 charges: per the Wikipedia summary of the Premier League's Sept. 28 announcement, "the commission found City guilty of all 80 charges related to financial wrongdoing, and 34 of 35 charges of failure to cooperate with the league investigation." The Mirror's live blog: the commission "found them guilty of 114 out of 115 charges relating to the period between 2009-10 and 2017-18," with allegations including "claims that more than £830million in owner funding was used to inflate the club's revenues through so-called 'sham' agreements." The Guardian's report of the ruling describes income artificially inflated by more than £900m.

Appeal status. City formally lodged an appeal Thursday, Oct. 2. City's statement: "The club's firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe... 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."

Sanctions: nothing ruled yet. Per the Guardian: "If City's appeal fails, the panel could determine a range of sporting sanctions, including expulsion from the league and point deductions." The Athletic (via the Mirror) reports Premier League executives do NOT expect direct expulsion — that would require 14 clubs to vote in favor — and that the likelier severe option is a deduction "that would effectively guarantee relegation," though there is "a fear that a huge points deduction would undermine the league's competitive integrity and reduce the television product on offer." Bloomberg (Oct. 9, via the Mirror) revealed City held pre-verdict settlement talks with the Premier League about an "early-stage settlement" that would have been "a hefty financial payment, rather than the stripping of titles and relegation" — talks that "quickly fell apart with City adamant about their innocence."

The narrative this weekend. City return to the pitch Sunday at Anfield (4:30pm) for the first match since the verdict. Manager Enzo Maresca: "Personally, I'm very calm to be honest... We trust completely the club. We understand the noise, but the focus for us is just what we can control" — and per the Guardian's live blog, he insists City's titles are not tainted. Rival managers are blunter about the damage: Nottingham Forest's Oliver Glasner — "There is still damage for the Premier League, not just in England. It's a big topic all over the world, especially in Europe. The most important thing is the integrity of the league because as soon as the fans can't trust it, they won't watch it any more." Meanwhile whistleblower Rui Pinto (Football Leaks, whose leaks produced the charges) was abruptly placed back into witness protection by Portuguese authorities after saying he faced death threats and "a serious risk of an assassination attempt."