Manchester City Football Scandal

1 day ago

3 min read

By Jialang Xu Nov. 4, 2026

In September, an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of 114 of 115 Premier League

charges, per The New York Times. Manchester City responded with an appeal on Oct. 1. The ruling brings new uncertainties such as the future of the club along with the fate of its titles and trophies.

The charges cover the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons, during which Manchester City won multiple soccer

titles and honors, including three Premier League titles. But, prior to these successes, Manchester City had been frequently demoted to lower leagues, per ESPN. In 2008, the Abu Dhabi United Group bought the club and invested more than £830 million into the club, per the BBC.

In November 2018, German magazine “Der Spiegel” published leaked emails which exposed the

intentionally manipulated owner investments and commercial sponsorships and financial documents from City per the Spiegel. This prompted an investigation by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) into whether City had violated UEFA’s financial fair play (FFP) rules. The Premier League also accused City of breaching its profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) and reporting false financial revenue, per The New York Times. The Premier League opened its investigation in December 2018 and charged City in February 2023. UEFA opened its own investigation in March 2019 and released its verdict in February 2020.

“Clubs should have fair opportunities, with spending limits to prevent wealthy teams from dominating. Bigger clubs can still benefit from havign mreo fans, but smaller clubs should have a realistic chance to compete," Neelan Sundaralingham '30 said.

UEFA found the club guilty of financial manipulation of records and failing to cooperate completely with

investigators. According to The New York Times, UEFA gave the club a two-year ban from its competitions and a 30 million-euro fine. In July 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) lifted the ban and cut the fine to 10 million euros, ruling that most of the alleged breaches were either not proven or too old to punish.

The Premier League’s independent commission found the club guilty of all 80 charges of breaking its

financial rules and 34 of 35 charges of failing to cooperate, but the appropriate repercussions remain undecided as of Oct. Manchester City has actively denied the accusations and has already submitted an appeal in the case. The club said it was both disappointed and surprised by the commission’s verdict.

Per The Telegraph, the verdict lets Manchester City’s rivals seek compensation for the 2009 to 2018

seasons where they might have been relegated or lost out on major league titles because they were disadvantaged in terms of funding and resources. Other possibilities include title stripping, where the club could lose trophies and honors earned during the contentious seasons or some variation of a time-stamped ban on transferring or signing new players.

“Clubs should have a limit to the amount of money they are allowed to spend because that makes it more fair for all teams, with the limit being 250 million euros per year. A faor punishment for Man City would be a reduced financial limit for next season," Stuart Wallace '29 said.

This recent case could set a precedent for the future of club soccer and refine the regulations regarding

financial operations. The appeal submitted by Manchester City remains unresolved and the resolution to this case can have a broad impact even on other sports and their teams regarding financial controls and systems to ensure a level playing field.

About the Contributors

Jialang Xu

Staff Writer

Jialang Xu is a freshman at Leland High school and is a crafty writer yet still constantly looking to hone his skills. When he's not sleeping he's either eating good food, playing tennis or just chilling out with his amigos.