BBC Radio 5 Live

Sports law specialist Chris Farnell said: "I suspect that most people involved in football would have thought that there were very solid ground for the club to be prosecuted and the Premier League wouldn't bring such charges lightly against a large Premier League club.

"I think what's surprising is what's being reported is that virtually all of the charges have been proven, and that's quite a unique position at this sort of level. I think it's probably sent a few shockwaves and I would even suspect that Manchester City's internal legal advice would be quite shocked by this.

"It certainly will have sent shockwaves through the club. On the one hand, you've got the legal ramifications and the regulations that will be enforced. But then if you were a Manchester City fan, the club's achieved incredible feats over the last 10 years and this puts a real stain on that, which may itself never get shaken off."

If you're just joining us, the headline news is...

Manchester City have been found guilty of breaking the majority of the 115 financial rules they were accused of breaching.

No punishment has been decided yet - and City will have the right to appeal.

We will be bringing you the best bits of that show here but of course worth a listen as well.

BBC Radio 5 Live

A Manchester City special is starting now on BBC Radio 5 Live, presented by Mark Chapman.

You can listen on this page, via BBC Sounds, an actual radio or any other way you enjoy listening to 5 Live.

Julian: As a Reading FC fan, what can I say? We were docked 18 points over three seasons for four charges. Us like Birmingham, Derby, Sheffield Wed, Wigan - we took our medicine

Kenny: Should receive same punishment as Rangers with five year transfer ban and huge fine

BBC Radio 5 Live

Fans have been speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about Manchester City being found guilty of the majority of the 115 financial charges brought by the Premier League.

Mark, a Manchester United fan: Let's have some sympathy for City fans, because this is bad for football, isn't it? Obviously City fans have potentially been cheated, almost regardless of what the outcome is. And you assume there will be some kind of punishment. So, aside from any tribal stuff, no one's really going to win out of this.

There might be kind of legal action by different clubs. Part of you hopes that doesn't happen, because at the end of the day it's meant to be about football, isn't it? 90 minutes on a Saturday afternoon or on a Monday night.

John, a Manchester City season ticket holder: I was in Istanbul [for the 2023 Champions League final, won by Man City], that will never be taken away from me what I experienced that day, the build up to the game and the game, and the day after, and everything that went along with it.

City won the Champions League, I was there, I was quite fortunate to be there. And that will never be taken away from me, regardless of what's been decided in the court or elsewhere along with the Premier League.

Sam F: My mind wasn't made up on what the sanction should be for City. If we were talking 1/2 charges made out, I'd be content with a points reduction this season. If the number of charges made out is anywhere near 114, points deducted in each season. Those titles cannot stand.

Alex: Relegation, points deduction for the following season AND a fine is the only justification if this is all confirmed to be true. Southampton were thrown out of the playoffs to set a precedent and this is a lot worse.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Football finance expert Dr Tom Bason speaking to BBC 5 Live: "I can't see the Premier League trying to go easy on City, they are going to want to make a case of City.

"The one thing they might have in the back of their minds is they don't want to devalue the Premier League brand, that is something they might be considering. City bring a lot of eyeballs to the league, they bring in a lot of money, have some of the best players.

"But the Premier League might be thinking the damage has already been done, we might as well go the whole hog."

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola always raised the issue of the reputational damage that could be done to Manchester City even if they are cleared of the charges.

"We have a good lawyer, not that Uefa had bad lawyers," he said.

"And I think the Premier League, supported by 19 teams, are going to take good lawyers too, to defend their position.

"I would have loved to wait and to find out what happens but just in case we are not innocent we will accept what the judge and the Premier League decides.

"But if the same situation with Uefa happens and we are innocent, what happens to restore or pay back our damage?"

BBC Radio 5 Live

Football finance expert Dr Tom Bason, speaking to BBC 5 Live: "What people will argue is that FFP was brought in as a response to City, because clubs were worried that a club owned by a sovereign wealth fund would be able to spend much more than any other club.

"The concern about them is not about the spending the owners put in, but what happens if an owner turns the tap off. We've seen it at Derby. When circumstances change, like Covid for example, or when owners lose interest.

"It's not about about stopping owners from putting money in, but about clubs being sustainable if the circumstances for the owners change."

Manchester City

During a media conference in February 2023, then-Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said he would not be concerned even if City were relegated from the Premier League by the commission.

"We have already been in the lower divisions," he said. "We will be back there - not a problem.

"We will call Paul Dickov and Mike Summerbee and we will do again.

"But they should wait. We are going to defend ourselves, like we did in the Uefa situation."

BBC Radio 5 Live

Football finance expert Dr Tom Bason, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "The charges are grouped into two areas - the charges that they effectively weren't honest in financial reporting, and the second is that they obstructed the investigation. It's the first bucket, the first 80 charges or so, that will hurt City.

"The PSR regulations allowed clubs to lose £105m over three years. Part of the argument the people made was that City were dressing up money from their owners, inflated sponsorship deals. That the money actually came from the owners.

"The allegations are that City were able to skirt around FFP regulations by claiming that money given to them by their owners was actually revenue.

"These companies that were sponsoring City are multinational corporations. The Premier League is a pretty small company within the UK - does it have the power to compel these companies, like Etihad Airways, to give evidence. Does it have the power to get the Email chains from those people?

"It's one thing people in the pub saying 'of course City did not', it's another to prove it in a court of law.

"What we have seen from the Premier League when dealing with cases involving other clubs like Everton and Chelsea, is that they are prepared to be more lenient with clubs who don't try to obstruct the investigation and who give evidence.

"That one of the charges is that City were trying to obstruct the investigation, before the charges came out, suggests this hasn't been an easy case for the Premier League."

BBC News

Manchester City season ticket holder David Wilson speaking to BBC News about the club being found guilty of the majority of the 115 financial charges brought by the Premier League.

"You'll never take away all the memories of all those moments and trophies from City fans. Those will live on regardless what happens over the next weeks, months and wins.

"There are many fans who were there when we were in the lower divisions, and they will stick by the club.

"What we want as fans is an explanation as to why - if we have been found guilty - we have dragged it out so long. Some context behind it.

"True City fans and fans who have been there all there lives will still love the club dearly no matter what other people and fans say. There will be a lot of stuff that comes City fans' way, those moments will never be taken away."

BBC Radio 5 Live

Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "It's less about what it says about the PSR rules, it's much more about what it says around the structures of the English game. There have been a lot of stories about how the Abu Dhabi government would never allow this to proceed.

"The fact that it went to a hearing in the first place told you that political interference had not been part of this process and that actually the Premier League had held its own in terms of wanting to prosecute its own case.

"It has now done that and it has found City guilty, we believe, of all of the charges and therefore I think it is a sign that the structures and the governance of the game is working, contrary to what people might have said in those analysis about problems with it."

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

Comparisons have been drawn to the cases brought by the Premier League against Nottingham Forest and Everton respectively over breaches of PSR.

During the 2023-24 season, both clubs were docked points for making more losses than they were permitted to for the three-year period from the 2020-21 to 2022-23 seasons.

Those cases were of a single charge, were easier to decipher and involved significantly less evidence.

Everton were twice deducted points. For the first charge, they were docked six points - reduced from 10 points on appeal. The second offence led to them being handed a two-point penalty.

Forest, meanwhile, lost four points.

However, these relate purely to PSR.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson speaking to BBC 5 Live: "It's incredibly serious. A complete finding for the Premier League clearly makes it even worse. You've now got a situation where this is going to go to a sanction hearing, which will look at what the punishment should be.

It will be going with the worst possible set of circumstances to that sanction hearing, City guilty of everything. With built-in aggravating factors such as the non-cooperation, the nature of the charges that we believe are now proved or such that they will demand very severe punishment.

"And when we see the five, six, seven-hundred-page decision, you can expect it to say some really quite serious things about the people who have given evidence and the way in which Manchester City have behaved."

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

This specific case was six years in the making, so legal fees on both sides were estimated at tens of millions of pounds before the hearing even started.

Whichever side 'wins' can be expected to make a claim for costs.

For context, the Premier League wanted Everton to pay the full £4.9m legal costs of their first PSR six-point deduction case.

However, an appeal board ruled Everton should pay £1.7m and the Premier League cover the remaining £3.2m legal fees.

Any costs being paid by the Premier League at the end of the City case would have to be spread across the 20 clubs which make up the league.

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak did his annual sit-down with in-house media back in June.

It was a two-part interview released over two days and the very final question was the following: "Is there any update on the Premier League ruling?"

Khaldoon: “Let me be as consistent as I’ve always been – until we have a ruling, I can’t say much.

"Once we have a ruling, believe me, we are going to have a wonderful sit down together and I will say everything I have wanted to say for the last three years.”

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

Chelsea have faced 74 charges of rule breaches, but these were quite different and primarily focused on transfers that happened between the 2010-11 and 2015-16 seasons, including deals for Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto'o and Willian.

The Premier League fined Chelsea £10m and handed out a suspended transfer ban after admitting making £47m in secret payments.

Importantly, Chelsea reached a settlement with the Premier League in relation to historical regulatory matters that were self-reported.

This has not been the case with City, who have always denied wrongdoing.

The Blues were also fined by Uefa and the Football Association.