Premier League's Manchester City statement — a line-by-line annotation

The Premier League has charged Manchester City with several alleged breaches of its financial rules after a four-year investigation.

It announced the extraordinary news on Monday in a 735-word statement that set out the 100-plus alleged breaches.

The statement — published without fanfare on the Premier League's website and listed below articles on Harry Kane, Sean Dyche and FPL tips — said City have been “referred to an independent commission” over the alleged rule-breaking.

But what is the commission? What are the rules City are alleged to have broken? And what happens next?

The Premier League's statement was packed full of detail but was difficult for anybody not familiar with legalese to break down. We've done exactly that and you can find an annotated version below.

You can read the Premier League's full statement without our annotations here.

Introduction

In accordance with Premier League Rule W.82.1, the Premier League confirms that it has today referred a number of alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules by Manchester City Football Club (Club) to a Commission under Premier League Rule W.3.4.

At the beginning of its statement, the Premier League confirms it has charged Manchester City with “a number” (at least 100) breaches of its financial rules.

Rule W.82.1 stipulates that the Premier League will make disciplinary proceedings public in the event of them being referred to an independent commission. Rule W.3.4 simply states that the Premier League's board has the authority to refer issues to a commission in the first place.

The chair of the independent Premier League judicial panel is Murray Rosen KC, who was appointed in 2020.

The Premier League published its statement on Monday (Photo: Getty Images)

Section one

Details of the Premier League Rules that the Club is alleged to have breached are as follows:

1. In respect of each of Seasons 2009/10 to 2017/18 inclusive, the Premier League Rules applicable in those seasons that required provision by a member club to the Premier League, in the utmost good faith, of accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club's financial position, in particular with respect to its revenue (including sponsorship revenue), its related parties and its operating costs, namely:

(a) for Season 2009/10, Premier League Rules B.13, C.71, C.72, C.75 (amended to C.79 from 10 September 2009 for the remainder of Season 2009/10) and C.80;

City finished the 2009-10 season fifth in the Premier League and qualified for the Europa League play-offs. They sacked manager Mark Hughes in December 2009, replacing him with Roberto Mancini. They signed Carlos Tevez, Emanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure and Gareth Barry among others.

Rule B.13 relates to City having acted towards the league and other clubs “in the utmost good faith”. It will be referenced again in the statement's later sections.

Rules C.71 and C.72 relate to the submission of City's accounts (to the registrar of companies), while C.75 is regarding their projected profit and loss accounts in their application for a UEFA club licence to play European football. Premier League clubs are obligated to submit their accounts for auditing every year.

Rule C.80, meanwhile, refers to City's provision of tickets to visiting clubs to their stadium (then-named City of Manchester Stadium, now called the Etihad Stadium).

(b) for Season 2010/11, Premier League Rules B.13, C.78, C.79, C.86 and C.87;

In 2010-11, City won the FA Cup, finished third in the Premier League and qualified for the Champions League. Their signings that year included James Milner, David Silva, Yaya Toure and Edin Dzeko. The City of Manchester Stadium also became the Etihad Stadium.

Rules C.78 and C.79 again refer to the club's accounts from the previous financial year, specifically to their profit and loss report and revenue streams.

Rules C.86 and C.87 relate to their “future financial information”, also including profit and loss accounts, as well as cash flows and balance sheets.

(c) for Season 2011/12, Premier League Rules B.13, E.3, 4, E.11 and E.12;

During this season, City claimed their first Premier League title with Mancini at the helm. Their signings included Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and Sergio Aguero.

Section E of the Premier League rulebook for the 2011-12 season refers to the rules regarding fixtures — from 2012-13 onwards, they instead refer to club accounts and finances, as detailed below.

(d) for Season 2012/13, Premier League Rules 16, E.3, E.4, E.11 and E.12;

The 2012-13 campaign saw City finish second in the Premier League. Jack Rodwell, Javi Garcia and Maicon were among the notable additions to the playing squad. Mancini was sacked at the end of the season.

Rules E.3 and E.4 relate to the submission of the club's most recent annual accounts, including a balance sheet, a breakdown of profit and loss and revenue streams.

Rules E.11 and E.12, meanwhile, refer to the club's financial projections, again including profit and loss, cash flow and balance sheets.

(e) for Season 2013/14, Premier League Rules 15, E.3, E.4, E.11, E.12 and E.49;

City won the Premier League title in 2013-14 with Manuel Pelligrini at the helm. They also reached the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time.

City bought Fernandinho, Jesus Navas, Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo.

Rule E.49 states that a club must inform the Premier League if any of their accounts or financial projections are likely to change, adversely or otherwise, from their previous statements.

(f) for Season 2014/15, Premier League Rules 16, E.3, E.4, E.11, E.12 and E.50;

City finished second in the Premier League in the 2014-15 season and again reached the last 16 of the Champions League. Eliaquim Mangala, Wilfried Bony and Bacary Sagna were their standout additions.

Rule E.50 is the same as Rule E.49 above.

(g) for Season 2015/16, Premier League Rules 16, E.3, E.4, E.11, E.12 and E.50;

The 2015-16 season was Pelligrini's last in charge of City and saw them finish fourth in the Premier League while reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League. They also won the League Cup.

City's transfer business included signing Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Otamendi.

(h) for Season 2016/17, Premier League Rules16, E.3, E.4, E.11, E.12 and E.51; and

Pep Guardiola took over at City ahead of the 2016-17 season and guided the club to a third-placed finish in the Premier League. John Stones, Leroy Sane, Ilkay Gundogan and Gabriel Jesus headlined their summer arrivals.

Rule E.51 is the same as Rules E.50 and E.49 above.

(i) for Season 2017/18, Premier League Rules B.16, 3, E.4, E.11, E.12 and E.51.

City won the Premier League and League Cup in 2017-18. Their transfer expenditure reached new levels, with Ederson, Bernardo Silva and Kyle Walker joining during the summer and Aymeric Laporte signing in January.

Rule B.16 again refers to acting in “the utmost good faith” in matters between City, the Premier League and other clubs.

Manchester City won the title in 2017-18 (Photo: Getty Images)

Section two

2. In respect of:

(a) each of Seasons 2009/10 to 2012/13 inclusive, the Premier League Rules applicable in those Seasons requiring a member club to include full details of manager remuneration in its relevant contracts with its manager, namely:

(1) for Seasons 2009/10 to 2011/12 inclusive, Premier League Rules Q.7 and Q.8; and

(2) for Season 2012/13, Premier League Rules P.7 and P.8; and

(b) each of Seasons 2010/11 to 2015/16 inclusive, the Premier League Rules applicable in those Seasons requiring a member club to include full details of player remuneration in its relevant contracts with its players, namely:

(1) for Seasons 2010/11 and 2011/12, Premier League Rules K.12 and K.20;

(2) for Season 2012/13, Premier League Rules T.12 and T.20;

(3) for Seasons 2013/14 and 2014/15, Premier League Rules T.12 and T.19; and

(4) for Season 2015/16, Premier League Rules T.13 and T.20.

The second set of alleged breaches also refers to requirements for a club to include full details of player remuneration within the relevant contracts, for the seasons 2010-11 to 2015-16.

Further alleged breaches relate to rules requiring full details of manager remuneration between the 2009-10 and 2012-13 seasons, when Roberto Mancini was in charge.

Rules Q.7 and Q.8 (and then Rules P.7 and P.8) refer to clubs' contracts with their managers. Specifically, that the terms of the contract are clearly written out and registered with the Premier League.

Rule T.12 states that the full details of players' salaries and bonuses are set out in their contracts. Rules T.12 and T.20 are the same as Rules K.12 and K.20, respectively.

Manchester City CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak with Guardiola (Photo: Getty Images)

Section three

3. In respect of each of Seasons 2013/14 to 2017/18 inclusive, the Premier League Rules applicable in those Seasons requiring a member club to comply with UEFA's regulations, including UEFA's Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations, namely:

(a) for Season 2013/14, Premier League Rule B.14.6; and

(b) for Seasons 2014/15 to 2017/18 inclusive, Premier League Rule B.15.6.

The third section of the statement deals with alleged breaches of Premier League rules requiring clubs to comply with UEFA financial fair play (FFP) regulations, which were in place between 2013-14 to 2017-18.

In February 2020, Manchester City were banned from European competitions for two years by UEFA for alleged breaches of its FFP regulations. But this punishment was eventually overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Section four

4. In respect of each of the Seasons 2015/16 to 2017/18 inclusive, the Premier League Rules applicable in those Seasons on Profitability and Sustainability, namely:

(a) for Season 2015/16, Premier League Rules E.52 to E.60; and

(b) for Seasons 2016/17 and 2017/18, Premier League Rules E.53 to E.60.

The fourth set of alleged breaches relates to the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules from seasons 2015-16 to 2017-18.

These are similar to UEFA's FFP rules, albeit more lenient, and make clear exactly how clubs are permitted to spend their income.

The Premier League has charged Manchester City with breaching these rules in 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18.

UEFA wanted to ban City from European competition (Photo: Getty Images)

Section five

5. In respect of the period from December 2018 to date, the Premier League Rules applicable in the relevant Seasons requiring a member club to cooperate with, and assist, the Premier League in its investigations, including by providing documents and information to the Premier League in the utmost good faith, namely:

(a) for Season 2018/19, Premier League Rules B.16, B.19, W.1, W.2, W.12 and W.13;

(b) for Season 2019/20, Premier League Rules B.16, B.19, W.1, W.2, W.12 and W.13;

(c) for Season 2020/21, Premier League Rules B.16, B.19, W.1, W.2, W.12 and W.13;

(d) for Season 2021/22, Premier League Rules B.15, B.18, W.1, W.2, W.15 and W.16; and

(e) for Season 2022/23, Premier League Rules B.15, B.18, W.1, W.2, W.15 and W.16.

Manchester City won the Premier League title in three of the above five seasons. They came second in 2019-20, behind Liverpool. This season, they sit in second behind Arsenal.

During that period, they signed 19 first-team players for more than £550m.

Ten Premier League rules are referenced in the fifth section of the statement: rules B.15, B.16, B.18, B.19, W.1, W.2, W.12, W.13, W.15 and W.16.

Section B of the Premier League's rulebook relates to the “governance” of the league. The rules above specifically relate to clubs interacting with the Premier League “with the utmost good faith”.

Section W deals with the Premier League's “disciplinary and dispute resolution” process. As touched on above, the sections make clear the Premier League board has the authority to deal with these issues, as well as request confidential information from clubs where necessary.

Conclusion

Commissions are independent of the Premier League and member clubs. The members of the Commission will be appointed by the independent Chair of the Premier League Judicial Panel, in accordance with Premier League Rules W.19, W.20 and W.26.

The proceedings before the Commission will, in accordance with Premier League Rule W.82, be confidential and heard in private. Under Premier League Rule W.82.2, the Commission's final award will be published on the Premier League's website.

This confirmation is made in accordance with Premier League Rule W.82.1. The Premier League will be making no further comment in respect of this matter until further notice.

The final part of the Premier League's statement is easier to understand and outlines the next steps.

The statement makes clear the members of the commission will be appointed by the Premier League's judicial panel — which has 15 members and an appeal panel of six members, to adjudicate disciplinary cases referred to it.

Rules W.19, W.20 and W.26. are again referred to. The latter refers to the chair of the judicial panel being expected to appoint a commission to hear the complaint “as soon as reasonably practical”.

The statement ends by saying the Premier League will not be commenting on the issue. The Athletic contacted the Premier League before publishing this article and, true to its word, it declined to provide any additional information.

City say they are “surprised” by the charges (Photo: Getty Images)

Manchester City's response

“Manchester City FC is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League rules, particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with.

“The club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.

“As such, we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.”

(Photo: Getty Images; contents from The Athletic)