Man City Hits with over 100 charges for allegedly violating EPL rules
The Reigning English Premier League (EPL) champions, Manchester City Football Club has been charged by the EPL for allegedly committing more than 100 violations of the league’s financial regulations.
The EPL, in a statement issued on its website said, its has turned the club over to an independent commission for its alleged actions between 2009 and 2018.
“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,” the EPL said.
With the charges, Pep Guardiola side, who are currently second behind surprised league leader Arsenal with 21 games played, could be punished with a fine, point deduction or even expulsion from the league.
We are ‘surprised’
In response, Man City said it was “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 added that it welcomes the review of the allegation byan independent Commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of their position.
“As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all,” it said.
The charges
In its statement issued Monday, the EPL accused Man City of breaching rules that requires them provide “accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position”.
This information covered club revenue, which includes sponsorship income and operating costs.
It also said the club failed to Further give full details of manager’s remuneration – from the 2009-10 to 2012-13 seasons, when Roberto Mancini was in charge – and player remuneration between 2010-11 and 2015-16.
How it started
Investigations against City started in December 2018 after the German investigative website Der Spiegel published documents from the Football Leaks cache which originated from the Portuguese computer hacker Rui Pinto.
The leaked publication alleged that the club had overstated sponsorship income, with money being paid by the club’s Abu Dhabi owners instead of sponsors linked to the Gulf state.
The money doubled former manager Roberto Mancini’s wages via a secret contact with an Abu Dhabi club; broken rules over approaches to young players, according to the leaked documents.
Following the leaks, European football governing body, Uefa initially banned City for two years and fined the club €30 million (about £27 million) for alleged financial fair play breaches connected to sponsorship payments.
However, in 2020, the ban was overturned, and the fine reduced to €10 million, by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which said “most of the alleged breaches were either not established or time-barred”.
