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.

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

Earlier this year, Everton were told they must pay Burnley £35m over the impact of a breach of the Premier League's financial rules.

The case - heard by a Premier League commission - relates to the 2021-22 season, when Everton were found to have broken PSR regulations over a three-year period.

Burnley argued the breach impacted their chances of staying in the Premier League, and sought compensation for the losses associated with being relegated.

The Clarets were awarded £26m in damages and a further £9m in interest.

Clubs who had their league positions impacted by City's offences could potentially claim a loss of chance to win potential honours.

These would need to be individually heard by an independent commission.

We don't know who is on the independent panel which is hearing and ruling on the case - and will likely only know that once a written judgment is released.

City's legal team is being led by Lord Pannick KC, reported to charge £5,000 an hour for his services. He helped City overturn a two-year European ban in 2020.

Image source, Getty Images

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

An appeal from City is expected to be a formality.

City's legal team is being led by Lord Pannick KC, who is reported to charge £5,000 an hour for his services. He helped City overturn their two-year European ban in 2020.

However, considering we are already eight years into this process - and two years beyond the start of the hearing itself - it is impossible to speculate when this could come to an end.

Until now, the case has been watertight, with no media leaks from any of the parties involved.

This is just the latest chapter.

However, while the commission's judgement can be directly appealed against, it is not possible for City to take it to Cas.

If the Premier League win, clubs who have perhaps lost titles or in cup competitions to City during the period covered by the charges may claim for loss of earnings, be it through prize money or competitions they failed to qualify for.

If City win, they could claim for damages caused as a result of the case.

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent

It was never expected the verdict would come complete with the sanctions.

We now face a waiting game for even that verdict to officially be made public by the independent panel.

We don't know who was on the panel that heard and ruled on the case, and that will only come once a written judgment is released.

All options are open to the disciplinary commission:

• Points deduction (immediate or suspended).
• Financial penalties (immediate or suspended).
• Removal from the Premier League.

Being removed from the Premier League would mean City lose their membership and are demoted to a lower division from the end of the season.

That could also happen through a points penalty.

What kind of punishment can Manchester City expect to receive?

Well, football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes City's Premier League rivals will push for a points deduction, with the potential for a "long series of litigation" from clubs who believe they were disadvantaged during the period of alleged wrongdoing.

You can hear more from Maguire by watching on the clip below.

John Murray
BBC football correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

Having commentated on Manchester City's many and varied successes over the course of all these years now, we've always referred to the fact that in the background there were these charges of breaking Premier League rules.

It feels like we have got a resolution in one way, but I think the fact that there is expected to be an appeal means that this is still very, very open-ended.

Central to this case was a website set up in 2015 called Football Leaks, and the Portuguese man behind it– Rui Pinto.

He has been convicted in both Portugal and France since leaking confidential documents about City and other influential clubs and individuals in global football.

Some view him as a hacker who stole information, while others regard him as a whistleblower worthy of protection. Our sports news correspondent Laura Scott has more on this divisive figure.

BBC Radio Manchester

Obviously, this is a huge story for our colleagues at BBC Radio Manchester; earlier today they broadcast a special programme reacting to today's news

You can listen back under the Watch & Listen tab.

Sort of - in 2020 European football governing body Uefa ruled that City committed "serious breaches" of FFP (financial fair play) regulations between 2012 and 2016.

The most serious of the alleged offences was the "disguising equity funds as sponsorship contributions".

City were given a two-year ban from European competitions, but that was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) later that year on the basis that most of the alleged breaches were unproven or time-barred under Uefa's own regulations.

City's fine was reduced from 30 million to 10m euros, though Cas accepted that City did "fail to cooperate with Uefa authorities."

Uefa began its investigation into City after German newspaper Der Spiegel published leaked documents in November 2018 alleging the club had inflated the value of a sponsorship deal.

Image source, Getty Images

No. A separate case between City and the Premier League was heard in early 2025.

In 2024, an independent arbitration panel found against aspects of the league's Associated Party Transaction regulations (APTs) after a lawsuit instigated by Manchester City.

A tribunal found the Premier League's rules governing sponsorship deals from the period between 2021 and 2024 were "void and unenforceable".

City and the Premier League reached a settlement in September 2025, with City accepting the APT rules as valid and binding, and both parties agreeing to terminate legal proceedings.

The rules were formed by the Premier League to prevent clubs from profiting from commercial deals with companies linked to their owners that are deemed above "fair market value".

In the days after the Premier League charged Manchester City with 115 breaches of financial rules, then-manager Pep Guardiola gave a fierce defence of the club during a pre-match media conference.

"What's happened since Monday is the same as what happened with Uefa. We have already been condemned," Guardiola said.

"You have to understand that 19 teams in the Premier League are accusing us without us having the ability to defend.

"We are lucky we live in a marvellous country where everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

"We didn't have this opportunity, we are already sentenced. I am fully convinced we will be [proven] innocent."

BBC Radio 5 Live

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

Ollie: "Nothing will ever take away from being in Wembley watching Gundogan score after 12 seconds. And when we won the league on the final day against Aston Villa, being on the pitch and celebrating with my dad and granddad and the family. Nothing ever really takes away from that.

"I think for those who were there, the proper supporters, I think nothing will ever change the emotions [they felt] on the day."

Callum: "I'm going to wait for the final verdict, but I mean at the moment, if the charges are true, then I am honestly appalled."

Dan Roan
BBC sports editor

Back in 2019, while City were being investigated by Uefa, and in the wake of the allegations about payments to Roberto Mancini, Pep Guardiola reacted furiously when asked during a news conference following the FA Cup final if he had ever received similar payments.

Guardiola replied: "Honestly, do you think I deserve to have this type of question, the day we won the [domestic] Treble, did I receive money? Are you accusing me of receiving money?"

The journalist involved explained that he had previously asked City, but in the absence of an answer, felt he had little choice but to question the manager.

Guardiola has always backed his bosses publicly, even when, in 2020, City were given a two-year ban from European competitions by Uefa for alleged FFP breaches, a suspension that was eventually overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Two years later, Guardiola said he would walk away from City if he felt the club's hierarchy had ever lied to him. "They explain and I believe them," he said.

Image source, Getty Images

Conclusions will inevitably be drawn from today's breaking news coming weeks after Pep Guardiola stepped down as manager, one year before the end of his contract.

Guardiola said City need "new energy" after he guided them to 17 major trophies in 10 years, and will take up a global ambassadorial role with the City Football Group (CFG) and offer technical advice to its member clubs.

Guardiola's departure comes a year after his close friend Txiki Begiristain - who played a key role in persuading Pep to join City - stepped down as City's director of football.

Image source, Getty Images