The Premier League has upheld all financial misconduct charges against Manchester City, finding that the club signed false contracts with commercial partners and artificially inflated revenues while suppressing costs by more than 900 million pounds between 2009 and 2018. The independent commission’s report also found that City failed to cooperate with the investigation and that several key witnesses gave false testimony on central matters, with some doing so deliberately.
Writing in his personal column, former England striker Alan Shearer said the verdict was devastating for City. He called it the biggest event in football history in terms of scale and said the longer the punishment process drags on, the more damage it does to English football.
Shearer says City can only blame themselves
Shearer said City will almost certainly appeal, but that whatever sanction is eventually imposed, the club has only itself to blame. He noted that City currently sit top of the Premier League and are due to travel to Liverpool, which he described as an ironic situation given the circumstances.
He also raised the position of other clubs, including Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal, saying those sides had missed out on titles, lost Champions League places or suffered relegation during the period in question. Shearer said he felt genuine sympathy for City’s supporters, because the misconduct had nothing to do with them.
On the prospect of relegation, Shearer said the pressure and scale of the situation means City could face a points deduction spanning five years or more, or even demotion. He added that City’s high-profile players, some of whom are World Cup winners, are unlikely to want to play in the Championship, and that agents would be looking for exit clauses.
Liverpool identified as the biggest victim
The Athletic reported that Liverpool are the club most damaged by City’s misconduct, and that no outcome can fully compensate for what they lost. The outlet detailed how Liverpool finished second in the Premier League with 97 points in the 2018-19 season, losing the title by a single point to City, and again finished one point behind City in 2021-22.
FSG chairman Tom Werner told The Athletic in 2019 that the ownership group had genuine concerns about rules not being enforced. He said they strongly supported financial fair play and believed that if rules were broken, sanctions should follow.
The Athletic noted that in July 2011, City announced a record 400 million pound sponsorship deal with Etihad Airways, whose chairman at the time was the half-brother of City owner Sheikh Mansour. Liverpool co-owner John Henry publicly questioned the deal at the time. The report added that in 2024, Liverpool and several other Premier League clubs sent legal letters to City preserving their right to claim damages if serious charges were upheld, and that such claims now appear likely.
Hacker Rui Pinto accuses Infantino of protecting City and PSG
Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto, whose Football Leaks disclosures helped expose the original allegations against City, posted on social media calling the case the biggest fraud in English football history. He directed sharp criticism at FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Pinto claimed that in 2014, when Infantino was UEFA general secretary, Infantino abused his position by sharing confidential documents and worked to ensure City and Paris Saint-Germain faced only fines, keeping deeper investigations that could have led to Champions League disqualification off the table. Pinto said Infantino has become, in his view, a poison for football and should have no place in the sport’s future. Sport Mediaset reported Pinto’s comments.
