Manchester City have confirmed the club have lodged a “comprehensive appeal” after being found guilty of breaching the Premier League‘s financial rules.
The decision of the independent commission was published on Tuesday and detailed how City arranged “sham” commercial deals to inflate revenues and reduce costs by £900 million ($1.2b billion) during a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018.
The club have branded the verdict “unsafe.” City announced their appeal in a statement posted on their official website on Friday.
It read: “Manchester City Football Club can confirm that at 7pm on Thursday, October 1 2026 the club lodged its comprehensive appeal against the opinion of the Premier League Commission, in relation to the Premier League disciplinary matter.
Read more:Rodri: You cannot take away Manchester City’s achievements – ESPN Video
“The club’s firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe.
–
–
–
“The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case.”
The Premier League confirmed that City “lodged the appeal to the Chair of the Judicial Panel” and that “the independent Appeal Board hearing will remain private and confidential until publication of the outcome is permitted.”
Fines, points deductions and other sporting sanctions are among “a broad discretion” of sanctions available to the commission, the Premier League also said.
Read more:Liverpool, Netherlands await news on Cody Gakpo ankle injury
The Appeal Board, appointed by the Chair of the Judicial Panel, “must have three members, one of whom should have held judicial office, and would sit as the chair of the Appeal Board,” their statement on Friday added.
In their previous statement on Tuesday, the Premier League called for any appeal to be “concluded as soon as possible.”
Immediately following the publication of the independent commission’s findings on Tuesday, City CEO Ferran Soriano sent a video message to staff insisting the club are innocent.
He said: “The whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation — that the owners’ personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi. This is just not true.”
Read more:Man City charges: Premier League clubs seeking legal advice amid expected guilty verdicts – sources
Sources have told ESPN that part of City’s appeal is expected to claim that the money in question came from the Abu Dhabi government rather than the club’s owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG).
The argument is likely to raise questions about whether City are privately-owned — which the club has maintained since the takeover in 2008 — or owned by the state of Abu Dhabi.
ADUG is a private investment company owned by Sheikh Mansour. Mansour is United Arab Emirates (UAE) vice-president and deputy prime minister as well a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi.
