114 of 115Photo: Steffen Prößdorf · CC BY-SA 4.0
Mr.Scandal
Episode 06SportsTagged Sums
Manchester City 115 charges, 2023. You run a football club with new, very rich owners. The rules say you spend what you earn. The owners have a plan for you to earn a lot more.WealthYour money. Hit zero and you are broke.
PR ShieldWhat the public still believes. Hit zero and you are cancelled.
ItemsOne-time aces. Play one when it fits and it is gone.
Manchester City 115 charges: what actually happened
Scandal Run plays 10 decisions inside Manchester City 115 charges, 2023. Your choices are invented; the record below is not. Each line quotes the MrScandal story and names its source, in the order it happened.
Show the real record (10 moments, spoilers)
- 2009-10 to 2017-18 The commission's arithmetic, as BBC Sport reports it: sponsor income of £949.94m across 2009-10 to 2017-18, of which £119.25m was base fees and £830.69m was 'tagged sums' paid by the club's owners, Abu Dhabi United Group. The ruling says the deals were split that way to give a 'misleading impression' to regulators and auditors.
- The same nine seasons The ruling describes an arrangement with a third party called Fordham, which it calls 'little more than a front', and consultancy payments of £8.866m, £7.4m and £0.5m. The commission says those payments were used to move pay off the books. City denies the findings.
- November 2018 Der Spiegel published internal City documents that The Guardian says came from a hack of the club's email servers. City said it would not comment on 'out-of-context materials purportedly hacked or stolen' and that 'the attempt to damage the club's reputation is organised and clear'.
- December 2018 A British court judgment published in July 2021 showed the Premier League had started investigating in December 2018 and that City had been resisting the league's requests for documents, The Guardian reports. The league issued a disciplinary complaint in August 2019.
- February to July 2020 UEFA ruled in February 2020 that City had committed serious financial fair play breaches and failed to cooperate, Reuters reported. The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the two-year European ban in July 2020 and cut the fine for non-cooperation from €30m to €10m, saying most alleged breaches were 'either not established or time-barred'.
- March 2021 A tribunal ordered City on 2 November 2020 to hand over documents. City appealed to the High Court, and in March 2021 Mrs Justice Moulder ruled against the club, according to The Guardian. Her judgment was published, which is how the public learned the inquiry was still alive.
- 6 February 2023 The Premier League referred alleged breaches to a commission, covering accurate financial information from 2009/10 to 2017/18, manager and player pay details, UEFA rules and cooperation with its investigation. Sky Sports reports City said it was 'surprised' and pointed to a 'comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence'. The club denied all charges.
- Sep. to Dec. 2024 Sky Sports reports the hearing ran from 16 September to 6 December 2024 in London before a three-person independent commission. In August 2024 Pep Guardiola told reporters he wanted the panel to 'release what happened, and we will accept like always we have done'.
- 29 September 2026 The commission found City arranged 'sham contracts' with commercial partners as part of a 'disguised funding scheme', BBC Sport reported. Richard Masters, the Premier League's chief executive, said the club 'systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade'. The panel said it 'rejected that explanation as untrue'.
- 2 October 2026 City confirmed an appeal on 2 October 2026. BBC Sport reports City will argue the sponsorship deals were funded by the Abu Dhabi government rather than the club's owners; The Telegraph reports Etihad told US departments in 2015 that this claim 'is false'. The Premier League says the sanction will be handled in a separate hearing. No sanction has been set.